


Shock

by Greensword101



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Healing, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-04-19 09:03:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14233884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greensword101/pseuds/Greensword101
Summary: Shock. Noun. A sudden upsetting or surprising event or experience. When Hiro meets someone he didn't expect to see again, his mind blacks out and everyone around him deals with the backlash.Wounds don't heal when they are opened again. Sometimes, if left unchecked, they can leave scars...





	1. Trigger

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all. Just a thought I had that I wanted to get on the page – after trying to do a little research in the realm of psychology, too, love that realm, warts and all – regarding a specific plot about a certain hat-wearing nerd. Here we go.

He sees but doesn't understand. Hiro tries, he tries to think, to speak, to hear, to know. He had dreams of this,  _delusions_  that this would happen. He shouldn't be like this. Why wasn't it like Baymax being rebuilt? Why was there no smile on his face? Why wasn't he doing anything? Why were his hands becoming sweaty?

This is the sight he sees coming home from Nerd School, after dealing with classes, being in  _his_ former lab with Granville's blessing – a blessing indeed, he goes there whenever things become too much and he can feel  _his_ presence in everything whenever Baymax isn't around – this is the sight he is welcomed to while Aunt Cass is down in the café. He barely said a hello to her and wishes he got a better look on her face, wishing he could have known if  _she_ had known about  _this_.

Hiro always pauses a video of  _him_ teaching him to ride a bicycle right as he is laughing. He sees the laugh in his smile right now, slowly fading as he gets a look on Hiro's face.

"Hiro?"

God, the concern in his voice, it feels so real. He wants to surrender everything and collapse in a heap. He wants to smile. He wants to feel. Hiro sees him move towards him but doesn't hear the words. Doesn't feel the hand on his shoulder rubbing small circles in knotted areas. Doesn't read the lips that are moving in a pattern, repeating the same thing over and over again.

And yet, he does. He understands every word that is being spoken to him without hearing a sound.

"Are you alright?"  _No_.

"Please, little brother, say something."  _I'm trying_.

"I'm here, Hiro, I'm home."  _Yeah, I can see that, Sherlock._

"Buddy, please, speak to me…"  _I think we've already established that all attempts are failing, right now._

Something cold inside of him builds, a feeling he felt once, when Callaghan spat out that…

_Someone has to help._

_Tadashi!_

…that it was  _his_ mistake for what happened. But there was a hotness, too. Something to keep him from going numb from the experience. He had a guiding force. He could move his body, make it follow his commands the way he wanted it to.

He was also able to speak during that time.

That face, that expression, acting as if he didn't  _just_  return from the dead. What the  _heck_  is he doing here, standing there unscathed, without explanation, without warning, without reason? Standing in the middle of their bedroom like he had just come back from SFIT classes, disappointed that the lessons couldn't have gone longer and eager to get homework done so they could either spar or hang out.

He couldn't breathe. Chest hurting. Head spinning. Bile in his mouth. Sour taste, something splattering onto the floor, disgusting smell filling his nostrils _. Please stop, please stop, please stop. Let this be a nightmare. Let this be some hallucination._

_Let me wake up in bed with Mochi on my chest. I don't want any more cruel jokes and crud. Let me wake up, please, let me wake up. What did I do to deserve this, God? Why are you making me_ see  _this?!_

He always dreamed that this would be more heartwarming. Tears, hugs, apologies, the whole shebang. This, though…this is different.

"Hiro, are you alright?"

_Aunt Cass?_ He tries to turn, but the room spins.  _Aunt Cass, where are you? Did you let him in? Do you even know who's in the room with me right now?! We are_ so  _going to have a talk about your inability to notice shit when you need to notice shit._

His hands lose grip on whatever he's holding; his bag, a notebook, his mind. His vision spaces out.

"HIRO!"

His balance fails, and Hiro wishes to God before he sees nothing else that he could acknowledge that Tadashi was the one holding him, awakening Baymax for help, in front of him and alive…


	2. Please Respond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that this isn't a Dark fic. My love for psychology and realism just BEGGED me to write this. Please review!

Fred was the first to respond. He was there when Hiro needed to get Baymax's endoskeleton back from Yama, he was there during Granville's chat about balance – whatever  _that_  had to do with anything – and he wanted to be there for the little guy during  _that painful month_ and hug him and tell him that he was not alone.

He knew loneliness like an old friend, but never let it into his home. Loneliness was a toxic influence. He was already at the comic book store when he got the message. Heathcliff –  _awesome_ Heathcliff – drove him down and Fred doesn't even pay attention to the stares he got. A friend needed him.

_Emergency at the Lucky Cat Café. Please respond._ Baymax.

By the time he got over there, there was an ambulance, and Hiro was on a gurney, Aunt Cass rushing into the back with Baymax and –

Fred stopped, feeling cold.  _Little Dude!_ He climbed into the back, frantic shouts and level voices inside. Fred made it into the back of the ambulance before the doors were closed, barely taking note of the additional person on his left.

"He's family," Aunt Cass told one of the paramedics in a voice that left no room for arguing. Fred looked at Hiro, so vulnerable, seeing the panting and the tube going up both nostrils, wrapped up like a burrito and pale as a ghost.

"Baby, please…" Aunt Cass held one of Hiro's hands and pressed it against her lips. Fred was stuck between taking ahold of Hiro's other hand and imitating the action or hiding away in the corner of the vehicle. If he had one superpower right now, it would be to make Hiro feel better right now.

He didn't want to see this; Hiro was tough, he never went to the hospital. But they were on their way right now, and at the moment, Fred looked at the family, wondering where the heck Baymax was, then saw him in the back with some guy he barely spared a glanced at, chest lit up as he confirmed Hiro was stable at the moment.

The minutes passed in silence. Fred would usually try cracking a joke, but he knew it would get him thrown out of the van. He took Hiro's other hand and squeezed it gently. Wasabi and Gogo would be better at this right now, but Fred has dealt with kids. He knew what it was like to take on a sibling-like position.

He just never had to deal with something this drastic before.

The van began to slow down, the doors were opened, and the gurney was pushed out. Aunt Cass ran and stayed as close as she could to it while Fred limply got out of the car.

"I didn't want this to happen," Fred yelped as he heard the voice behind him. He turned around and blinked a few times, realizing for the first time how the hat made him stand out. Seeing Tadashi without him was the same with seeing him without hair.

"Dude?" For a moment, Fred found himself pleasantly surprised, arms held out for a hug. But then, he remembered Hiro on the gurney and the state they found him in… _that night._

_"He just ran in…"_

His voice, so dead and dull, as the building burned. Hoarse from screaming his lungs out.

Fred's arms dropped to his sides and his face went numb.

_What_... _how?_

"You're..." Fred closed his mouth, bit his lip, and looked away. His face felt hot and his fingers dug into his palms.

Hiro came first.

"Later," he said in a quiet voice. Tadashi mumbled weakly and walked in the direction the gurney went.

**(0-0)**

Fred read comics with heroes dying – he still had a hard time getting over  _Death in the Family_  before Jason Todd became the Red Hood – and with his origin story accomplished in all ways that are expected within such a tale, he did have the hope that the world would be like the stories he read.

But as Go Go told him several months ago as he argued in vain towards more crime-fighting, this was the real world. Some things went as you would expect them to in the real world and others went in directions that made you wish that comics weren't real. The one thing he did hope for was just a that; a hope.

In comics, heroes never stay dead. They come back to life and happy reunions all around. But in the real world…when heroes don't stay dead – because Fred always considered Tadashi to be a hero, just like his little brother did – things just feel more complicated.

Where's the happy reunion? Where's the love? The tears and initial shock slowly fading away?

Where's the happy ending?

No.

There  _will_ be a happy ending. Fred wouldn't give up, this was just something that needed time taking in. They were heroes now; they would find a way to resolve this problem. Was it a problem?

Review: One; Tadashi was alive, something that they were not expecting and therefore, was highly unlikely to know about Big Hero 6 or Callaghan. Two; Hiro did  _not_  take the revelation that well and will need all the support he can get. Three; the others most likely got the same message from Baymax and were on their way over.

Which lead to four; damage control was going to be needed. Aunt Cass needed space and adjusting. Hiro needed rest. Tadashi needed some place to hide while Go Go ranted. And Baymax had to be brought to Hiro…unless that would make things  _worse_!

Would it? Baymax was Hiro's best friend, his confidant, his protector, his…nephew? Tadashi  _did_  technically make him, so that would mean he was the dad and Hiro was the uncle. Right?

Getting off track now…the gang needed to be contained in a careful manner. The last thing needed was an explosion right now...

His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and Fred picked it up.  _Oh, great. Here come the fireworks..._

_Is everything alright?_ Honey Lemon's text said.  _Go Go and I were just at the Lucky Cat and there was a crowd. Something about an emergency...?_

Meanwhile, Go Go's text read:

_Who hurt Hiro?_

Fred could hear Go Go's voice taking an icy tone. He shivered.

"Hey Baymax," he called over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

Fred turned around and watched Baymax walk over – slowly – towards him, "On a scale of one to ten, how badly do you think the gang's gonna take Tadashi pulling a death Houdini?"

Baymax's chest brightened, showing a chart with several facial expressions, each face looking more pained than the last.

"I do not have the proper data regarding such a scenario," Baymax stated, "However, I will ask them when they arrive at the –"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Fred waved his hands frantically, "I don't want think that would be appropriate."

"But I cannot evaluate their reactions properly if I do not ask them."

"Let's just…" Fred sighed, "Heads are gonna roll tonight…"

"Is that when you wish to tell them, Fred?"

"I don't know, Baymax...I  _really_ don't know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my homework on shock treatment – it was a little tricky – and it is good to play it safe and be sure that the patient is breathing. It isn't officially confirmed to be hyperventilation until a blood sample is taken, though, since it could very well be a panic attack instead.
> 
> Funny thing is that Go Go was the one that would react first, but I couldn't help but think of Fred being there for Hiro during Baymax Returns and wrote him in this chapter. Plus, I think Go Go would be too harsh too soon, unless that is just fandom interpretation.
> 
> As for Tadashi's presence, I looked up information on grief with children and I would think his actual presence – you know, not being dead – would be a bit much for Hiro.


	3. Call to Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay, I kept forgetting to post the next chapter on this site as well. This fic is more up to date on fanfiction.net if you want to check it out.
> 
> I also originally wanted Fred to try stalling for a bit, but then he told me that he wouldn't last two minutes under questioning. Might as well start the explosions before the fuel builds up too much. Also, I'm sorry for the wait. Researching for this fic was hard and I have six courses to worry about. Don't forget to read the notes at the end, either. They're important!

_Where r u?_  Go Go's text read.

Fred looked at his phone and sighed. Lying to her wouldn't be smart. If drama was going to happen, he might as well get it over with before someone got hurt.

_Hospital._  He responded.  _In waiting room._

Getting into the ambulance was easy. Watching Hiro breathe through a mask was easy, too. Letting everyone know what was going on would be the hard part. Questions would be asked, answers would be demanded, and Fred wasn't sure how the others would handle hearing that Tada –

His throat tightened and he coughed a few times.

_Where did that come from?_ Fred thought.  _It's not like I don't know that Tada –_

Throat tightening again.

All of this because Tada –

Now his eyes felt hot. He blinked a few times before it got worse.

"Baymax?" Baymax looked at him. "Do you think you could check up on…Hiro? Just to be sure he's okay?"

_He's gonna need you._  Fred thought.  _He's gonna need you like back then…_

"I will do so," Baymax said and waddled away.

Now Go Go was less likely to throw something if the wrong thing was said. Hiro having his best friend at his side was a bonus.

Which meant Fred was going to have to deal with this by himself…

**(0-0)**

"Fred, what happened? Where's Hiro?" Honey Lemon jumped the question on him as soon as she sees him in the waiting room. By that time, Fred had familiarized himself with the pallet of colors splattered on the wall.

Large blobs of blues and yellows and reds like a child was the one painting. A carousel with streamers on top, traced over the blues and yellows with no distinction. A hot air balloon drifting away from the mess. An elephant balancing on a large ball with a strange look on its face. Fred thought it looked uncomfortable and wondered how the artist could get away with something like that for a waiting room setting.

"Freddie?" Honey Lemon repeated, "What happened with Hiro?"

Fred gulped and tried not to look frantically around for any sign of Tada…him. Behind Honey Lemon, Fred saw Wasabi and Go Go. Wasabi was gripping onto Go Go's shoulder tightly while she stomped her way over.

Wasabi was looking more at Go Go than Fred as they came over to him, like she would vanish if he took his eyes off her for a moment.

"Umm, guys?" Fred spoke slowly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Remember why we started Big Hero 6 again?"

Wasabi's eyes widened, and he grabbed Fred by the collar, "Who was it?! High Voltage? Baron von Steamer?! YAMA?!"

"No, no, no," Fred pulled Wasabi's hands off and stepped back, "none of them know – I mean, Yama does, but he hasn't really done anything yet – and he's not injured… _physically_. More like…"

Fred held out his arms to each side, as if weighing two objects on a scale.

"Fred," Go Go spoke quietly, "What. Happened. To. Hiro?"

"He…" Fred pulled away from Wasabi and looked down, "he…"

"He what?!"

He bit his lip and tried talking. His throat felt tight and he stopped. He swallowed and opened his mouth again, but his throat felt even tighter. He swallowed again and suddenly felt his eyes becoming hot and wet.

"..s..ive…" He finally whispered, his voice barely rumbling.

"What?" Wasabi placed a hand on his shoulder, but Fred shrugged it off.

"…e's alive..."

"Who's alive, Freddie?" Honey Lemon's voice went up a pitch, "Who?"

"TADASHI'S ALIVE!" Fred covered his mouth and bit down as hard as he could. He couldn't take it back, his face was becoming wet with tears, his throat hurt, and Tadashi was alive. His body shook and he began sobbing.

Tadashi was alive, and Fred wanted to run as far away as he could.

"Fred?" Go Go sounded frightened," You're – you're not joking, right? Because it's not funny. Do you hear me? IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

Fred shook his head and closed his eyes, more tears coming out. He choked down a sob and wiped his eyes roughly with his right sleeve.

"And Hiro?" Honey Lemon whispered frantically, "Does he know?"

"…yeah…he didn't take it well…"

Fred heard a soft  _gasp!_  and choked. He was starting to feel like he was in a scene from his comics, where things seem like they're looking up until something dreadful happens. Like rummaging through wreckage, hoping against hope that whoever you're looking for underneath the mess is still there and breathing. Like in  _Death in the Family_ , Batman was so broken when he found Jason's corpse and denied that he came back as the Red Hood. No. More than that. He refused to see Jason as nothing more than a copy.

That's what Fred was going through right now. He couldn't believe that Tadashi was standing in front of them. He should be gone. There was no way that anyone could have survived that explosion.

_But Callaghan did_ , Fred thought,  _Callaghan survived the explosion. But…why didn't he_ say  _anything back on the island? Did he think Tadashi was gone, too?_

Why was his heart beating so fast? Why was he crying? Why was he having a hard time breathing? Why was something that should have felt good felt even worse than Tadashi's death? Why –

SLAP!

Go Go's breathing was hitched, fast and uneven. She sounded like she was wheezing a little.

"…I deserved that…" Tadashi muttered weakly.

SLAP!

"I deserved that, too…" Tadashi sounded pained, like it hurt to move his mouth to talk.

More movement and quick shuffling. Fred forced his eyes open and saw Wasabi restraining Go Go, her teeth bared and tears streaming down her face.

"YOU BASTARD!" She screamed. "HOW COULD YOU DIE AND THEN POP UP OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?!"

"Go Go, let him explain himself!" Wasabi pulled her to the opposite side of the hall.

"HE RAN INTO A BURNING BUILDING AND LEFT US BEHIND!" Go Go continued, pushing herself against the wall and fighting Wasabi's grip. "YOU LEFT US WITHOUT EVEN THINKING!"

"M'sorry…" Tadashi mumbled.

"YOU'RE  _SORRY?!_  DO YOU HAVE  _ANY_ IDEA WHAT YOU PUT US ALL THROUGH?!"

"Miss?" Fred heard a new voice speaking up; older and feminine. She sounded calm, but firm.

"YOU JUST  _HAD_  TO PLAY THE HERO, DIDN'T YOU?!" Go Go spat, "YOU JUST  _HAD_  TO PLAY FIREFIGHTER WHEN IT LOOKED HOPELESS! IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT YOUR OWN  _BROTHER_  WAS RIGHT THERE WATCHING IT HAPPEN –"

"Miss?" The new voice grew louder. Fred looked around and saw a stout woman in blue scrubs making her way around a large desk. Go Go broke out of Wasabi's grip and grabbed the front of Tadashi's shirt, pressing her face against his so closely that Fred thought that they were going to kiss.

Go Go started chuckling darkly, "And you know what else? You know the guy you were trying to save? Robert Callaghan?"

Tadashi looked down and mumbled something. Fred wasn't sure what it was.

"Dead?" Go Go said scoffed, "He didn't die in that fire. CALLAGHAN WAS THE ONE WHO –"

The scrub woman had made her way over to Go Go and tapped her from behind, speaking sharply, "Miss!"

Go Go froze at the touch.

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, you're making a scene. People are trying to do their jobs," she said calmly. Go Go looked between her and Tadashi and stormed out.

"We're really sorry," Honey Lemon bowed her head slightly, "Go Go's just reacting badly to…"

"She can come back when she calms down," the woman nodded, "I'm glad she had the sense to leave on her own instead of having security carry her out."

"She…" Wasabi started, but the nurse held up a hand.

"If she wants to vent, she needs to do it outside the premises."

**(0-0)**

The room was scanned as he walked in. Three lifeforms detected. One was lying down. Two heartrates going at different paces; one was steady, the other slightly above average. Scanning complete. Visuals recognized Cassidy Hamada and an unregistered man wearing a white lab coat. Baymax stared at the figure lying on the bed, one hand cradled by Aunt Cass. Facial recognition commenced showed Hiro Hamada.

"Hello, Hiro," Baymax said. Hiro did not respond, and Baymax decided to stay in the room and wait until he woke up. He began to make his way into the doorway until his body was jammed in-between the framing, "Oh no."

Aunt Cass's heartrate went up several notches before decreasing as she looked up.

"Baymax," she whispered. Baymax observed that she was frowning, a common trait among people who are sad or worried.

"Aunt Cass," he greeted.

The man in white, whom Baymax recognized as Phillip Hoffman according to the nametag, was frowning too. Perhaps he was also sad. Yet his heartrate was normal. Were the frown and narrowed eyebrows in agitation, then? The expression was directed at Baymax, so he would have to assume that it was because he was possibly intruding.

"What are you?" Doctor Hoffman asked.

Baymax held up one hand and rotated it in a circle once in greeting, "Hello. I am Baymax."

"He's ours," Aunt Cass suddenly spoke up, "He belongs to Hiro."

Doctor Phillip Hoffman looked at her with an open mouth, "H-he what?"

"I am Hiro's Healthcare Companion," Baymax said. He activated the screen where his chest was located, feeling power flowing into the area, "I am responsible for his physical and emotional: well-being. I will scan him now."

Doctor Phillip Hoffman began walking toward him, waving his hands in the air, "There's no need for tha –"

"Scan complete."

Doctor Phillip Hoffman let his hands drop to his sides and shook his head.

Baymax began to upload his findings onto the chart on his chest, "Hiro's heartrate is –"

"He's fine, Baymax, the doctor says he just needs rest," Aunt Cass spoke quietly.

"He's staying overnight for observation," Doctor Phillip Hoffman added.

"I have over ten thousand medical procedures downloaded into my databanks, yet I do not have the information on Hiro's illness."

Doctor Phillip Hoffman looked at Aunt Cass. Baymax saw the smile on her face and believed it to be a positive outcome. Doctor Phillip Hoffman looked at him and took a deep breath, before speaking,

"Your creator, Hiro, just went through post-traumatic shock from seeing someone he thought was dead –"

"Tadashi," Baymax responded.

"Please don't say the name, it might trigger another panic attack," Doctor Phillip Hoffman spoke quickly, "Since he hasn't woken up yet, we don't think it would be a good idea to send him home. The hospital will want to make sure that he isn't suffering from anything dangerous, so we're going to have to keep him here overnight."

"I am familiar with: panic attacks and: shock. But usually they are caused by physical ailments such as: blood loss or: increased heartrates."

"Sometimes, it can be caused by something in the brain," Doctor Phillip Hoffman explained, "The brain recognizes something from a bad memory, maybe connected to a scary event, it sends signals to the body. It's telling the body that it needs to get away from whatever the brain is registering because it is recognized as a threat. If the body stays there for too long, it's going to react and start shutting down because it can't handle the processed information."

"What Doctor Hoffman is trying to say, Baymax, is…Hiro is scared," Aunt Cass added, "He doesn't know how to handle…this…with…You-Know-Who being…back. On the surface…he knows that this could be a good thing. But…"

Aunt Cass pressed Hiro's hand against her forehead and bit her lip. Her heartrate was rising a little. When she spoke against, her voice was barely registered by Baymax's auditory functions.

"But, subconsciously, Hiro can't process it. He's…unable to…register… _him_  as…a good thing. He will think about the…the accident and…"

"I understand, Aunt Cass," Baymax walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her body, "Hiro is my patient. I will help him however I can."

"Actually, he's  _my_  patient," Doctor Phillip Hoffman corrected him.

"Doctor," Aunt Cass looked at him with what Baymax registered as pleading eyes, "Baymax is…Hiro's security blanket. He  _saved his life!_  I already went through so much when  _it_  happened and I thought I was going to lose Hiro, too. And then, Baymax suddenly appears and Hiro starts acting like himself again. And then we thought Baymax was gone, too, and I was afraid Hiro was going to pull away again. Please, Doctor Hoffman, let Baymax stay with Hiro!"

"Alright, alright, I approve," Doctor Phillip Hoffman spoke gently, "Sometimes, we have therapy dogs for patients. We can have Baymax registered in the system as…whatever we can categorize him as and he can stay with Hiro."

"Thank you!" Aunt Cass smiled. Baymax felt the screen on his chest turn off and his body slowly sag.

"Aunt Cass, I must ask you to return home," he said, calculating the next shift in functioning protocols to occur within five minutes, "I will need my charging station before I lose all power to my body."

"Um…" Aunt Cass frowned, "I…didn't drive here…guess I'll call Wasabi and asked him to pick me up."

"You do not need to do that, scanners indicate: Wasabi is in the building."

**(0-0)**

Aunt Cass came rushing down the hall, looking over her shoulder every three seconds, like she expected a phantom to creep from behind.

"Wasabi," she called, "Can you drive me back to the café? I need to grab Baymax's charger."

"Um…sure, Aunt Cass," Wasabi shrugged and followed her down the hall. Fred could make out the next words, "How's Hiro doing?"

**(0-0)**

It was at least thirty minutes before Aunt Cass and Wasabi returned with the charger, Tadashi followed them close behind before Wasabi look back at him and shook his head. Tadashi stared as the two walked down the hall. A few moments later, he scampered after them, scrambling up the stairwell just in time to see Aunt Cass go through a door that lead to the third floor.

"Wait!" He called out, seeing Baymax swaying back and forth on his feet while a harried-looking doctor with curly brown hair and a shaven face slung one large arm over his shoulder.

"I am Healthcare, you're Personal Baymax," Baymax slurred. Tadashi pinched the bridge of his nose. Unbelievable. He should fix that glitch soon before someone got hurt.

"Sorry for the wait," Aunt Cass slung Baymax's other arm over her shoulder and guided him over to the charging station Wasabi just positioned onto the ground. Both feet connected to the red surface and Baymax slowly started inflating again.

"I had to drag him out before he damaged something," the doctor groaned, "Why does he do that?"

"It's a glitch," Tadashi spoke softly. He tried not to flinch when all eyes were staring at him, "I was working on his movements and making him move like a human and… _that_  happened."

"Hello Tadashi," the doctor and Aunt Cass started shushing Baymax, "I am afraid you must leave."

"Huh?"

"Tadashi, in order for Hiro to recover, you must not see him for a while," Baymax said.

"W-what?!"

"Hiro has suffered from: traumatic shock. Causes of traumatic shock are often stressful scenarios that may remind a person of memories or occurrences they do not want to remember."

Wasabi winced, " _That_  is harsh."

"If Hiro sees Tadashi again, it might result in another: panic attack."

"No…" Tadashi said weakly. He clenched his fist and pounded at Baymax, "NO!"

"Tadashi!" Aunt Cass shushed him and pulled him towards the stairwell, "Please, just go. I'll meet you back at the café. Please."

"Come on, man," Wasabi wrapped an arm around his shoulder and guided him away, "the gang's meeting up at Fred's place. Emergency meeting."

"Meeting?"

**(0-0)**

"This is where he  _lives_?" Tadashi whispered as he walked into Fred's bedroom. Fred felt like he was punched in the gut; it just occurred to him that Tadashi  _never_  knew about his house at all before. Another regret to add to his list, he supposed.

"Welcome to  _mi casa_!" Fred put on a false smile, "I've been told it's  _not_  French, so I don't really know what it means."

"It means  _my house_  in Spanish," Honey Lemon sighed.

"You  _live_  here?!" Tadashi repeated.

"Believe me, dude, we were all pretty shocked," Wasabi groaned, "There was this  _weird_  picture of Fred and my brain  _still_  hates my eyes for seeing it."

"Yeah…" Honey Lemon nodded, "But, after what happened earlier, it wasn't much in comparison."

Tadashi stopped looking at Fred's bed and stared at Honey Lemon with a curious expression, "What happened earlier?"

"Nonononononono!" Fred waved his hands in front of Honey Lemon, "Too much too soon, HL, too much too soon!"

He saw Wasabi look at Go Go nervously out of the corner of his eye. They both looked resigned. This was  _not_ how to keep a secret ID a secret!

"Man…we might as well get the fireworks out of the way before anything else happens…" Wasabi sighed.

"We got to tell him about Big Hero 6, Freddie," Honey Lemon said quietly.

"What's Big Hero 6?" Tadashi looked at Fred now.

Fred bit his lip and looked towards Honey Lemon. She shrugged and looked at Go Go. Go Go looked at Wasabi and Wasabi looked back at Fred and said, "This was  _your_ idea. I think  _you_ should be the one to tell him."

"But this wasn't  _my_  idea to tell him!"

"Fred," Go Go looked at him, "Please. No one else wants to and you're the only one crazy enough to say it."

"Tell me what?" Tadashi asked.

"Ehehehe…" Fred chuckled nervously, "Well…since we took down the person we  _thought_  had killed you…I thought the city needed us to continue. And that's how Big Hero 6 got its name…"

"Wait, what?"

"We've been fighting crime with –"

"MY BABY BROTHER'S BEEN FIGHTING CRIME AND YOU  _LET_ HIM?!"

Honey Lemon flinched and inched closer to Tadashi, "It wasn't supposed to be a full-time thing, Tadashi. We were trying to stop Callaghan and get closure –"

"What does Callaghan have to do with this?"

Honey Lemon stopped and looked towards Wasabi, "Do you want to take this…?"

Wasabi sighed and looked directly into Tadashi's eyes, "Callaghan started the fire. He wanted the microbots for himself."

Fred knew that everyone in the room was expecting Tadashi to take it badly. The soft chuckling startled him, though. Tadashi stopped chuckling as soon as he began, a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

Tadashi shook his head ruefully, "Very funny. Professor Callaghan: a villain."

He chuckled softly again, "You really had me going there for a second. That look and, and –"

Fred flinched when Tadashi began howling with laughter, "Oh my God! It-it really –  _ha ha ha_  – looked like you guys were being  _serious!_  Callaghan wouldn't do something like that –"

"He would, and he  _did_!" Go Go snapped. Tadashi stopped laughing abruptly and looked at her with wide eyes, "Wanna know something else? Hiro told him you 'died' trying to save him and Callaghan said that it was your fault it happened."

Fred gulped, he saw Tadashi clenching and unclenching his fists. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Even Go Go started looking a little nervous as Tadashi began glaring at her. Tadashi never glared. He frowned.  _This_ was glaring. He wasn't disappointed or mildly irritated, Fred was starting to think this was what Tadashi Hamada really looked like when someone got on his nerves.

"That's not funny anymore," Tadashi said in a cold voice, "Stop goofing around and tell me the truth!"

"The truth? The TRUTH?!" Go Go exploded, "THE TRUTH IS CALLAGHAN TRIED TO KILL US! Baymax has recordings on his chip! We can show you tomorrow if that'll get through your thick skull!"

"Excuse me for taking this in as best as I can!" Tadashi shouted back, "Excuse me for going from seeing my little brother get sent to the hospital because he  _saw_ me and then being told that I  _can't even check up on him_ to hearing something that…that…STUPID AND RIDICULOUS! You don't  _know_ Callaghan like  _I_ do! He would  _never_  hurt anyone – how dare you say something like –"

"LIKE  _WHAT_ , TADASHI! LIKE HOW HE WASN'T THE COOL GRANDPA OR DAD OR UNCLE FIGURE YOU THOUGHT HE WAS?! AND WHERE DO YOU GET OFF BEING OFFENDED BY THIS?! YOU JUST SHOW UP LIKE NOTHING'S HAPPENED AND YOU JUST  _ASSUME_  THAT WE'RE  _LYING!"_

"Look, I don't know how to explain  _what_ happened, all right?! One minute, I'm in front of the building and the next –"

"I DON'T  _CARE_  HOW IT HAPPENED!" Go Go screamed, "I CARE WHETHER OR NOT YOU THINK WE'RE LIARS –"

"Both of you, SHUT UP!"

Fred didn't realize how loud he was until he noticed the echoes bouncing off the walls. He felt everyone looking at him. His head was pounding, Honey Lemon and Wasabi were clinging to each other for comfort, Baymax wasn't around to help, and Heathcliff wasn't around to conveniently distract everyone out of nowhere. Why couldn't Go Go and Tadashi handle this like they usually would? Why couldn't Tadashi listen to her? Why couldn't Go Go stay calm and Go Go-ish without being scary?

Why did Fred have to be the one to fix this? He was the only other 'kid' in the ground after Hiro…

_What would Hiro do?_  He thought. He could see that gap-toothed smile of his in front of him. Fred could hear Hiro say something like…like…

Look for a new angle…

Guess Fred Frederickson the IV was going to become un-Freddie-ish right now…

"We are  _not_  going to be at each other's throats! We're not going to wallow around like Captain Fancy when he's in the hands of an awful writer – and if you ask me who Captain Fancy is, Tadashi, I'm going to go Fredzilla on you! – and we're  _not_  going to be walking on eggshells over this. We are going to talk about this without screaming anymore,  _Go Go_!"

Go Go flinched, as though she were slapped or doused with icy water.

Fred continued, "Right now, Hiro is in the hospital, Big Hero 6 is down one member for a while, and this  _isn't_  going to be the end of the world."

He pointed to Tadashi, who had the decency to at least look at him without cowering away like Go Go did just a moment ago.

"Tadashi, you have my permission to crash here for as long as it takes to fix this."

He pointed to Honey Lemon.

"Honey Lemon, you make sure Aunt Cass is doing alright. Check up on her, talk to her,  _anything!_ She  _can't be left alone!_ "

Fred took a deep breath and pointed to Go Go. She was going to be the toughest one to handle, but Fred knew her. Go Go wouldn't attack him. No matter what people thought of her, Fred knew Go Go was good. That's why they were friends, after all…

"Go Go, you're  _not_  going to attack Tadashi whenever he's in the same room as you. Find a picture of him and tape it onto a punching bag if you want. Scratch that, that's probably going to make it worse.

He finally pointed to Wasabi.

"Wasabi, you're on the first shift of Hiro Watch. Got it?"

He frowned when no one spoke up.

"I said, got it?" Fred glared.

Everyone nodded, and he sighed. His head was still pounding.

"And…how about we just  _tell_ Tadashi what happened without threatening him?" He looked at Go Go worriedly. Fred stared when he saw her raise her hand in the air like a preschooler waiting to be called on.

"I'll go," Go Go spoke up, her voice hoarse and uneven, "I want to make sure he's alright."

"Huh?"

"I wanna go check up on Hiro right now."

"But I just –"

" _Please_ , Fred!" She looked at him, desperate and tired. Fred backed away, trying to understand where this imposter had come from. Go Go would never let herself be this emotional in front of anyone, "I  _need_  to see him, too! Because I think I'm going to  _break_  something if I don't!"

Fred took it in, breathed in and nodded slowly and paced across the room, trying not to let his body shake, "Fine, you can go with Wasabi, then."

Go Go took one look at Tadashi, and the sight just made her start sobbing this time. She pulled him into a hug and cried into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Go Go sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry, too," Tadashi whispered, holding her tighter, "I wasn't kidding when I said I deserved being hit, earlier. I… _God_ , I'm such an idiot…"

"Go Go, I wouldn't believe it if I were in his shoes," Wasabi walked over and wrapped his arms around them, "You know how crazy it sounds?!"

Fred and Honey Lemon joined in the hug a moment later, the last anchors of support taking hold and steadying everyone in the embrace.

"We all looked up to Callaghan, Go Go, I couldn't believe  _my_ eyes!" Honey Lemon added, "It was like he was a different person…"

"He can't…he wouldn't…" Tadashi tried, and buried his face into Go Go's neck, shaking like a leaf. Fred wished he could block out Tadashi's sobs. It was more than just a selfless and thoughtless decision to risk his life that night. Callaghan must have meant so much to Tadashi, more than the others could have imagined.

"He would," Honey Lemon whispered, "he did and now he's in jail for his crimes."

"Why would he steal Hiro's microbots?" Tadashi whispered, like it would make everything he just heard not true.

"Revenge," Go Go whispered, "You know Krei? The business guy who tried to buy Hiro's bots? He was Callaghan's target over something that happened a few years ago. An accident…his daughter was sucked into a portal…"

"Until Hiro and Baymax got her out," Wasabi added.

They all stayed in the hug for another minute before Wasabi pulled away.

"Gotta check on the kiddo," he nodded to Go Go, "Let's go."

"In a minute," Go Go muttered. She looked at Tadashi again as she pulled away, "…I…I…I really wish I was wrong. About…Callaghan. He was my favorite teacher, too."

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes red, puffy and wet, "I wish I could have handled that better…"

"I keep you updated," Go Go said before she walked out the door.

"I'm going to see Aunt Cass, now," Honey Lemon added, "I'll-I'll make her some tea."

"How long was I gone for?" Tadashi asked Fred as Honey Lemon walked out of the room.

Fred sighed and looked down, "About two…maybe three months. There was the first month when everything happened, then school and Big Hero 6 and lots of things I'm still trying to wrap my head around. Like…like this new show I'm getting into. I want to know when the network's finally going to let it continue airing in the U.S."

Tadashi raised an eyebrow.

Fred shrugged, "Just saying."

"What show was it…?"

"I  _know_ for a fact that it was developed in the U.S., I just don't know  _why_  other countries are getting to see it while we don't! You hungry? I'm hungry. I'll call Heathcliff, see if we can get some pizza."

"Heathcliff? That butler guy?"

"Mhmm!" Fred nodded, "Come on, we gotta find him. Heathcliff knows where the phone is."

"Since when did you become a leader?" Tadashi stared at him wide-eyed.

Fred smiled ruefully, "Since I realized this city needed some heroes, I guess."

**(0-0)**

"…dn't go…"

"Hiro."

"dn't leve me…"

"You are having a bad dream, Hiro."

"Quiet…Biy-max…lemme sleep…"

Let him sleep. Let him forget. Let him not think about that moment. That moment. What moment? The moment everything went dark. The moment he can't place his finger on. Moment.

Moment.

Moment.

Warmth. He felt warmth, like Aunt Cass's hugs.

_Last hug._

It was a bed, but it wasn't  _his_ bed.

"Hiro."

Why was Baymax here if this wasn't his room? Wha –

The light. It's too much. Eyes closed again and he tried slipping back under again.

_Beep!_

Dear God, he didn't like the sound of that.

_Beep!_

It was an alarm clock. Probably an alarm clock.

_Beep!_

Someone turn it off, dammit! He was trying to sleep!

_Beep!_

Hiro wanted to sigh, but he was too tired. His brain wasn't connecting to his body, his body wasn't connected to his brain. His heart was beating a little faster…

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

He didn't feel pain, but he felt discomfort. Something up his nose. A nose ring?

"Are you alright, Hiro?"

_I wish I was, Baymax. Something feels weird. Where am I?_

_Beep!_

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

His legs felt bare and Hiro wanted to cover himself. But there was something already doing that. A blanket. Thin and barely there. For a moment, Hiro thought he was wearing a dress.

_Still wearing my underwear. That's good._

He tried opening his eyes again.

_Beep!_

Still too bright.

_What…where…?_

Gown. He was wearing a hospital gown.

_Beep!_

That explained why his back felt bare…

_Beep!_

He tried opening his eyes a third time.

_Beep!_

He winced, but it didn't feel as intense after a few moments.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

But he was wearing a hospital gown.

_Can I sit up?_

_Beep!_

_No._   _Head spinning. Feel sick. Great._

"Hiro?"

Hiro cracked a small smile. His voice was dry, "Hey Baymax."

"Hello, Hiro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When will the U.S. finally get to see more episodes of Big Hero 6?! I mean, come on! It's been airing in every other country except for this one?! What gives?!
> 
> Now for stuff about the scenes…Do you want to know how hard it is to research shock treatment of the psychological kind? Very. Hard. No matter how specific I am, I cannot go beyond the initial attack because there are few sites explaining how it works afterwards when the event is triggered…and that's when I realized that I should be looking into PTSD instead.
> 
> Hiro's initial shock would require a blanket securely wrapped around him, along with the oxygen mask. The treatment for afterwards, I am still having a hard time looking it up. One aspect is keeping the patient away from any potential triggers, as Baymax just explained. Staying overnight is part of procedure to make sure he isn't suffering from something worse than a panic attack like Broken Heart Syndrome – yes, it is real, a doctor told me this while at a clinic for unrelated reasons – or anything bad.
> 
> Secretaries do wear scrubs. Looked that up as well. Also checked blankets, too, since I wanted to be sure they were thin things.
> 
> Baymax has got to have one of the hardest and blandest POVs ever. He is a calculating machine, making obvious observations, and I hated writing from his perspective. I love him as a character and want to hug him, but man, is he difficult to write in an interesting manner. No way he could have good prose.
> 
> Also, as Fred explained, the gang isn't going to be bursting into tears in almost everything scene. Hiro, their youngest friend, was just taken to the hospital, so tensions were already high. Adding Tadashi was going to make it even more so, considering canon. My goal is to avoid having them whine all the time, the worst is over now. His little thought process about how to handle the situation was inspired by Faery Heroes by Silently Watches. Check it out if you're a Harry Potter fan. Be warned, though, it has some bashing, but it is in tolerable doses in my opinion.
> 
> Also; Go Go slapping him and Tadashi's response was based from Deadpool (2016). I don't want to portray her as violent like some people might, but in this scenario, I think that would have been her initial response. Had to leave out the crotch kicking, though, too early for a joke. And I apologize for Go Go's abrasiveness. She really didn't want to hurt Tadashi and I had to hug her and Tadashi and tell them that they would heal.
> 
> Which is why I added her hugging and apologizing afterwards so she didn't come off like a bitch.
> 
> A sporking of Twilight inspired Hiro's POV. The sporker was criticizing how easily Belle woke up despite her injuries and referenced how they reacted to waking up for injuries that were not as critical. I had to wing it, since Hiro's issue was psychological in nature. Mostly trying to figure out what happened.
> 
> Don't forget to review! :)


	4. A Reopened Wound May Scar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the absence. I had no idea when to post the next chapter and I also kept forgetting to. This fic is also on fanfiction.net, in case you are curious. Please review.
> 
> Notes about my research on the bottom.

Hiro tried sitting up a few times, but his body – and Baymax – would have none of it. His mind felt less fuzzy and he struggled to remember what had happened. But it was as if Baymax had suddenly decided that now would be the perfect time to continually talk. No time to think about much, not even the tubes going up his nose.

“I will contact your doctor,” Baymax’s chest lit up and Hiro could make out a set of numbers with the picture of – he was going to have to trust Baymax’s judgement at the moment – his doctor. Hoffman. It reminded him of someone he heard of, from a movie back in the 2010s. Twenty or so years ago.

“Your doctor has been contacted. I will now ask you a preliminary of questions regarding your: diet.”

Hiro closed his eyes and let his head sink deeper into his pillow, “Baymax, I’m _really_ not in the mood for –”

“Do you suffer from allergies regarding: shellfish?”

“…no,” Hiro sighed.

“On average, what percentage of: vegetables make up your: daily meals?”

Hiro looked up at the ceiling, pushing against the mattress again before Baymax placed a hand over his chest and gently pushed him down. He scowled, but it was hard to stay mad at Baymax for long.

“Would you like me to repeat the question, Hiro?”

“No,” Hiro said, “I dunno. Uhhhh…I’d say maybe…ten percent?”

“Is that a question?”

“I’m gonna go with ten to fifteen percent of my meals, I guess,” Hiro rolled his eyes. He was starting to think that Baymax was deliberately keeping him from thinking. There was no quiet, all Hiro wanted to know is what on Earth was going on. Was…was Baymax trying to keep him distracted on purpose?

“On average, how much sugar do you –”

“Thank you, Baymax, I’ll take it from here,” a man with curly brown hair opened the door. Hiro saw the white coat and tensed a little. He couldn’t remember the last time he went to the hospital. It must have been at least six or seven years ago. He always connected hospitals to something dreadful happening.

“You are welcome,” Baymax waddled – Hiro smiled a little, he couldn’t help but think of Baymax walking like a penguin – out of the man’s way and stood at the front of Hiro’s hospital bed.

_Beep!_

“Hello, Hiro,” the man smiled and held out his hand. Hiro looked at it for a moment before reaching out and clasping it in his own. One shake. Release. The man pulled a chair from the nearest wall on Hiro’s right and brought it closer to the bed, sitting down on it a moment later, “My name is Doctor Phillip Hoffman and I just wanted to check on you and see how you’re doing. Baymax said you just woke up.”

“Uh, yeah,” Hiro nodded. He tried to ignore the _beeping!_ in the background, monitoring his heartrate. He placed his hands on the mattress again, but looked at Doctor Hoffman with uncertainty, “Am I supposed to stay lying down? Is the thing up my nose supposed to stay or something?”

“To answer your second question; yes, you’ll have to keep it in to allow oxygen to run through. And if you want to sit up, there’s a control panel on your left,” Doctor Hoffman smiled. Hiro thought it made him look younger, “Where your hand is – no, on the armrest – good, now you need to –”

Hiro yelped when the mattress sank a little further down.

“– not panic, just press the button in the opposite direction – there we go – and you can sit up.”

“Why can’t I just sit up by myself?” Hiro raised an eyebrow as he felt himself rise to Doctor Hoffman’s eye level. There was something about the expression that felt familiar. Like talking to an old friend.

“It’s just a precaution for our patients,” Doctor Hoffman shrugged, “Besides, isn’t this more comfortable?”

“Yeah…” Hiro sighed. He blinked a few times and looked at Doctor Hoffman, “What happened?”

Doctor Hoffman’s smile stayed on, but Hiro could see it was a little forced, now.

_Beep! Beep!_

“Am…am I hurt?” Hiro asked quietly.

“No,” Doctor Hoffman said quickly, “you’ve…just had a panic attack. You were brought to the hospital about three hours ago and your Aunt had to go home.”

“Aunt Cass isn’t here?” Hiro felt his chest become cold.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“Hiro,” Hiro looked towards Baymax, “Aunt Cass needed to return home to collect your: clothes and: personal belongings. This was approximately: thirty-three minutes and 43.005 seconds ago. She will return shortly.”

“Oh…” Hiro sighed in relief.

_Beep!_

“So…what…what exactly _caused_ my panic attack?” Hiro looked at Doctor Hoffman, biting his lower lip.

“I wouldn’t want you to have a relapse so soon after you woke up,” Doctor Hoffman said.

Hiro looked down at his covers, “I just got back from SFITI, greeted Aunt Cass, and went to my room and –”

And…

_And…_

_‘That was_ his _mistake!’_

The cold returned, but he could feel the fire to quench it.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

He wasn’t here. Not physically. Not in the room. There wasn’t anything to worry about. Baymax was with him. He was safe. He was safe and secure and Tad –

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep –_

“Hiro, are you alright?” The warm hand on his shoulder brought him back, centering him. Breathe. Center himself. Do whatever it was Wasabi’s yoga recordings told him to do.

“I…I don’t want to talk about it…” Hiro said lamely. _Oh,_ great _response, Hamada! He asks you how you’re doing and you’re acting like the First Month was still going on. And he knows it!_

“Alright,” Doctor Hoffman nodded. He stood up, “Now, due to the circumstances that brought you here, I would recommend you get an EKG.”

“A w-what?” Hiro stammered.

“An electrocardiogram,” Doctor Hoffman explained, “Because you had a panic attack, we need to check on your vitals just to be sure there’s nothing _else_ wrong. It’s nothing painful, just a quick procedure we’d do a few times before letting you go home.”

“When you say, ‘something else wrong’…” Hiro started.

“Sometimes, a panic attack might actually be something worse. With an EKG, you’d –”

“It would be used to detect symptoms that may lead to: other ailments,” Baymax said, his chest lighting up again, “An EKG may be used to detect: a heart attack, Broken Heart Disease, abnormalities within the –”

“Baymax, I told you that he’s my patient right now, let me handle this,” Doctor Hoffman sighed, his voice resigned like it was an old argument and a tired refrain.

“He tried helping you out earlier?” Hiro asked with a smirk.

“Emphasis on _tried_ ,” Doctor Hoffman smiled.

“– low blood flow, ischemia –” Baymax continued as if he wasn’t interrupted.

Hiro sighed, “Maybe he should take a break for a bit – Baymax, I am satisfied with my care. Proceed to stand-by mode.”

Baymax looked at Hiro in the middle of his speech, then Hiro heard a _vrrrrrr!_ from where Baymax was standing. He watched Baymax inflate a little, then close his eyes. Did Baymax have the charger placed in that exact spot or was it just a coincidence?

Doctor Hoffman sighed in a way that Hiro thought he was relieved, “Thank goodness, he was being a little _too_ helpful.”

He stood up, “I’ll be right back, Hiro, just sit tight for a few minutes.”

Hiro shrugged, “Only thing I can do.”

He reached over to the remote on his left and grabbed it, pointing it at the television position on the left-hand corner of the room and turning it on.

Right now, his best friend at the moment would have to be in the many misadventures of _Dusty: The Supernatural Bunny_. The reruns. From the 80’s.

Great…

Two minutes in, Hiro decided that it wasn’t necessary for him watch Dusty look for the Smoky Bubble when it was _right_ _above his body_ and flipped through the channels.

He stumbled on a news update when Dr. Hoffman came back with a small, bulky-looking computer on a rolling table with electrode patches dangling to the side.

Hiro blushed when he was told to pull off the blanket and remove his hospital gown, leaving him in his underwear. It wasn’t cold, but he still wanted to cover his chest. No matter how old he was, Hiro still couldn’t disconnect the idea of nudity from being intertwined with shame. It didn’t matter that Doctor Hoffman looked away when he peeled off the gown, it didn’t matter that this was necessary, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t completely naked. Hiro felt like he was going to burst into flames and burn until he was nothing but a pile of warm ashes.

“Hiro?” He couldn’t see Doctor Hoffman’s face, he was too busy covering his own, “Hiro, are you alright?”

“No,” Hiro muttered without thinking, his face burning against his hands, “I _hate_ these kinds of check-ups.”

“It’ll only take ten minutes, don’t worry about it.”

“This is more humiliating than the festival last year…”

“Festival?” Doctor Hoffman pressed a button on Hiro’s bed and the mattress began to even itself out again. It reminded Hiro of an operation table, “What happened last year?”

Hiro bit his lip and a nervous giggle rumbled through his throat. Was he _really_ going to talk about it while he had electrodes taped to his body?

“Well…you know how SanFransokyo has lots of events throughout the year, the ones from Japan?”

“I’ve been to a few of them,” Doctor Hoffman answered.

“Well, last year, my family was getting ready because Aunt Cass wanting to advertise her café…”

_A pink kimono with a cherry blossom adorning her hair…_

“…and we had these haori – and I wore the black one – and I was getting ready when Tada –”

His throat caught in his mouth, the cold returning. Hiro clenched his fists while another patch was taped onto his chest. A warm hand on his shoulder.

“Are you still with me, Hiro?”

“Y-yeah,” Hiro forced out the words. He remembered the story, “Anyways, I was getting ready when… _he_ held up this really long roll of bandages and said I had to wear it underneath the haori. And I didn’t know what it was until…until _he_ told me and said I was old enough to start wearing it. Then I realized he was wearing one right in front of me and nothing else and then…”

_Beep! Beep!_

“…and I just started… _laughing_ , but I was really nervous ‘cause…’cause _he_ just looked so dorky. And I didn’t want to wear it, because I was pretty much going to be wearing bandages as underwear and look like an idiot. And…”

_‘No one’s going to see these, Little Brother. Dad used to wear this, too!’_

_‘There is_ no _way I’m gonna prance around in_ that! _’_

_‘You’re_ not _! Look, I’ll help you put it on and then you can get dressed.’_

_‘…I…I…’_

_A warm hand on his shoulder. Hiro felt so small, he didn’t want to do anything embarrassing. He was drawn into a hug._

_‘We’re_ both _going to look like idiots. I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you. You hear me?’_

_Hiro smiled, ‘Yeah. I hear you, Tada –’_

“Hiro?”

Hiro yelped and realized where he was.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“How long was I out?” He asked nervously.

“You were just staring at nothing,” Doctor Hoffman said. He frowned, “Hiro, if you don’t feel comfortable telling me, we can drop the discussion.”

“I was almost finished,” Hiro said weakly, “I was talked into wearing it and then I put everything else on. It was…different. I didn’t want anyone knowing about it because it was so stupid, but I had a good time. Then I was told it made me ‘a manly man’ when I was getting changed.”

Doctor Hoffman raised an eyebrow as he added the last electrode patch onto his body, “ _What_ article of clothing was it?”

Hiro smirked, “Japanese underwear. The _ancient_ kind.”

“Oh,” Doctor Hoffman’s eyes widened, “ _Oh…_ ”

His mouth twitched a few times before Doctor Hoffman covered it. It did little to stop the giggling, however. After a few moments, Doctor Hoffman must have found _some_ form of control, because he was still smiling, but Hiro could see he was biting the lower lip.

“That…” Doctor Hoffman began before stopping and looking away, taking a deep breath before looking back, “that _does_ sound embarrassing.”

“It was,” Hiro grumbled. He didn’t care that his dad used to do it, it didn’t make him feel any less nervous. At least he knew which side of the family the kookiness came from, even if Hiro was certain he didn’t have any odd behaviors.

He refused to consider being friends with Baymax an odd thing, thank you very much.

“Anyways,” Hiro forgot why he brought it up until he remembered all the patches on his skin, “ _This_ is worse than back then.”

 “How is it different from this?”

“Nobody else could see it,” Hiro shrugged, “I wasn’t prancing around half-naked and wasn’t planning on it.”

“Do you think I would cause you any harm, Hiro?” Doctor Hoffman asked gently.

Hiro winced. _Ouch! Wasn’t trying to imply_ anything _, I just don’t like anyone seeing me without clothes. He probably thinks that I think he’s a creep!_

“Trust me, Doc,” he managed to get out, “I would’ve been a little more edgy. _Probably_ kicked you in the groin by now.”

“And upset some of the equipment that Baymax didn’t try getting his hands on, yet,” Doctor Hoffman smirked, “Is Baymax typically that…”

He looked at Baymax with a look of uncertainty.

“Overbearing?” Hiro suggested. Doctor Hoffman nodded. Hiro continued, “Not all the time, I mean, the second time I woke him up was an accident. I stubbed my toe but he wouldn’t leave me alone and –”

_Megabot in his hands, cold to the touch. What was the point of going to Nerd School if Tada –_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“Hiro?” Doctor Hoffman’s hand on his shoulder again. Hiro blinked, the noise bringing him back.

“Sorry about that,” Hiro muttered. He remembered that he had patches all over his body and covered himself.

“This will take ten minutes, Hiro, I promise,” Doctor Hoffman said reassuringly.

“I believe you,” Hiro smiled.

“This won’t hurt at all, I promise,” Doctor Hoffman smiled back.

**0-0**

Honey Lemon nodded to Wasabi as he drove off in the rental car, leaving her in front of the Lucky Cat Café. The sign on the front door said **CLOSED** and pushing at the door was met with resistance. Honey Lemon adjusted her Chem-Purse on her shoulder and stepped back. She sighed and pulled out her phone, quick-dialing Cass’s number.

After a few rings, she heard someone on the other line,

“Hello?” Cass sounded tired when she answered.

“Cass, it’s Honey, can you let me in?”

“I’ll be down in a sec.”

“See you in a minute,” Honey said before the connection ended. She sighed and looked through the windows; chairs not placed on top of tables, leftovers remaining half-eaten, belongings left behind from patrons.

Cass came into view, her head looking to the floor as she made her way towards Honey Lemon. A key gripped limply in one hand as she pushed it through the lock, gears _clicking!_ and the door opened. Honey Lemon’s arms were around Cass in an instant. Arms wrapped around her, but they felt cold and lifeless.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright,” Honey Lemon pulled Cass closer.

“I’m fine, sweetie,” Cass whispered, “I just…just needed to get something here.”

Honey Lemon pulled away and saw Hiro’s backpack; a fuzzy, blue arm sticking out of it, dangling from Cass’s right arm.

“I... had to call a taxi,” Cass said lamely, “Everyone was gone already. But, hey –”

She shrugged, smiling weakly.

“At least I can get there with the truck, now. No more asking people for now.”

“We’re very sorry, Cass,” Honey Lemon gently took Hiro’s backpack and pushed the stuffed animal’s leg into the back completely before zipping it up, “We needed to have a discussion ASAP and, well, Go Go proved that shouting in the hospital wasn’t allowed.”

“Is anyone else hurt?” Cass’s eyes widened.

“No, no,” Honey Lemon said hurriedly, “Fred got everyone to calm down a little. He actually got us organized for the time being. Tadashi’s going to stay at his place in the meantime.”

“That’s… _good_ , I guess,” Cass’s shoulders slumped, Honey Lemon thought she looked like she wanted to shrink away, “I don’t want to see him right now, I still need time to process this.”

“We all do, Cass,” Honey Lemon said sympathetically. A thought came to her, “Want to stop by my place, first? I can make tea.”

Cass shook her head, “Tea later. Hiro might need a few things in that bag and I’d rather get him his things before visiting hours are over.”

Honey Lemon looked up at the sky, realizing that it was become redder and redder by the minute. Sooner or later, the light posts would be on. No time for pleasantries, then.

“Well,” Honey Lemon paused, trying to word herself carefully. Positive outlooks didn’t always require smiles. Harm had been caused in the past because of smiles or the wrong wording, “If we hurry, I’d bet we would bump into Go Go and Wasabi. They volunteered to check on him first. So, if he wakes up, they’ll let us know.”

“That’s good,” Cass nodded, but nothing about her posture changed. It reminded Honey Lemon a bit of Hiro, from the brief glimpses she saw of him during that first painful month. She was worried that he wasn’t eating enough, his face looked so pale.

_‘Check up on her, talk to her,_ anything! _She_ can’t be left alone!’

If Fred was capable of getting everyone organized when he wasn’t goofing off in about a minute, would he be capable of more under the right circumstances? Would he be more like his father?

“I’ll drive,” Honey Lemon offered, “We can head to the hospital, then I can help with dinner.”

“Thank you, dear,” Cass said as Honey Lemon shepherded her towards the truck parked several feet away from the café, “I think…I think it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to drive right now.”

Honey Lemon envisioned Cass speeding down the highway, drawing police cars towards her, all because she was in a hurry.

“I’m sure Hiro will be happy to see you,” Honey Lemon smiled, taking the car keys offered and unlocked the truck, waiting until Cass opened the passenger’s side and buckled in before she put the keys into the ignition. The truck rumbled a few seconds later, and Honey Lemon checked the rear-view mirrors and from behind before setting the D-stick to drive.

“Do you think Hiro’s awake right now?” Cass asked a few moments later. After losing Tadashi, Honey Lemon thought that Cass might have been struggling to keep herself together. The pain of losing someone that she felt was like a son to her was nothing compared to the fear of losing her youngest.

_Was it actually a good thing that Tadashi was alive?_ Honey Lemon shuddered, she didn’t think she would like the answer to that question, if she thought too hard about it.

“Well,” Honey Lemon bit her lower lip, “I think he is, now. A little intuition, that’s what its telling me. Go Go and Wasabi might be texting us in the next few minutes to let us know. They were on their way to the hospital when they dropped me off.”

“I hope so,” Cass muttered under her breath.

_Should I talk to her more or just stop the conversation?_ Honey Lemon thought. _I can’t be patronizing, I can’t be overbearing or insensitive like when Go Go and I started out as roommates._

She thought of the stuffed animal in Hiro’s backpack and smiled.

“I couldn’t help but notice Hiro has a friend in his bag,” Honey Lemon crossed an intersection and took a right. It was feeling a little warm, so she decided to open up a window, letting the wind blow past her face.

“Oh,” Cass’s voice sounder a little lighter, more alive, “that’s Shiro, his stuffed rabbit. He hasn’t slept with it in years. I actually kept it in my room because I didn’t want to throw it away.”

“Aw,” Honey Lemon smiled, “Any special memories with Shiro the Rabbit?”

“He’s had it since he was a baby,” Cass continued, her voice stronger, “I got it for him when he was born. Then, when he turned ten, he didn’t want it anymore. Said that ‘big boys don’t sleep with toys,’ and just thrusted it into my hands.”

Cass chuckled lightly.

“I think that was when he also developed the ‘Fist Bump’ with Tada – Tadashi...”

Honey Lemon winced. _Turn the conversation towards something else…anything else._ She looked at Cass, “You know, I had a stuffed iguana when I was a kid. His name was Roberto and I –”

“HONEY LEMON, THE ROAD!” Cass shouted.

“Wha –?” Honey Lemon barely had time to look when she felt something _sliiiiide_ under the truck. She didn’t hear any _crunch!_ or _slam!_ or any indication of collision. All she could hear was a _screeeeeeeeech!_ as the truck spun out of control. Honey Lemon closed her eyes, bracing for impact, when the truck suddenly came to a stop. She opened one eye, then the other. She looked over to Cass, thankful that there were no scrapes or bruises. Although covering her eyes and ranting wasn’t much of an improvement…

“Arewedeadarewedeadarewedeadarewedead?!”

“No, Cass, we’re not,” Honey Lemon said reassuringly, trying to catch her breath and get her heart to stop pounding, “We got lucky.”

“The truck’s okay?”

“Yes, as far as I can see.”

“Anybody got hurt?”

“We didn’t hit anyone, I swear,” Honey Lemon answered.

As much as she wanted to pull Cass into a hug, Honey Lemon couldn’t get herself to stop looking at the front of the truck with wide eyes. They had hit something, not some _one_ , and her hands twitched towards the back of her seat, where her Chem-Purse was sitting, as if it would disappear.

“Jeez! Crazy driver! _I_ had the right of way!”

“He just _swung_ out of nowhere and he thinks it’s _our_ fault?!” Cass sounded agitated, “The nerve of some _people_ these days and – wait a minute! Did he say that _we_ hit _him?!_ ”

Big Hero 6’s last fight with him had been a disaster, and a reminder of how dangerous chemicals were in the hands of the wrong person. A reminder that even jokes can become threats overtime. Fred compared him to a villain from one of his comics, _not_ from Captain Fancy, this time. Go Go admitted that the similarities were pretty shocking and asked to borrow it, believing that it would be helpful the next time. Honey Lemon looked over the comic, too, and even looked online for any answers that might be useful in the future.

“Hold on, I think something got into your van. It’s _mine_. Let me just take it and we can forget this whole mess.”

Honey Lemon looked down at her lap, purple gel covering a wooden box.

“Cass,” she whispered, “We’re going to have to take a detour.”

“Hey, Honey? Isn’t that purple guy someone on the news?” Cass looked over her shoulder, still buckled in.

“Cass?” Honey Lemon looked at her, Cass looked back, “Promise you’ll keep your eyes closed for the next few minutes? I don’t think that guy is going to leave us alone if we give him what he wants.”

“Who is it?” Cass asked.

“Globby…” Honey Lemon whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I must thank a kind doctor for giving me the information I needed for research on Hiro’s treatment and recovery. This is mostly psychological – Hiro’s condition, I mean. I encourage you all to spread the word to as many people as you can. I think that this cliché needs to be addressed with care – and research – in order to get the desired outcome that we all want. And that is a happy ending.  
> The little story Hiro was telling was more of me wanting to build the world of Big Hero 6 a little more, then realized that it should also connect to the plot in some ways. Like, how even happy and silly memories could be possible triggers as well.  
> And Globby is meant to keep you guys on your toes. Don’t forget to review, I appreciate them!


	5. Conceal, Don't Feel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the wait, I kept forgetting to post this because of my jobs.

When Honey Lemon stepped on the gas, she thought that it would have been better if Go Go were behind the wheel.

On the other hand, she was sure Cass would appreciate her car _not_ being in the bottom of the ocean like Wasabi’s was at the moment.

Then she thought of how many pedestrians would be put at risk from the speed. Anything from someone crossing the road to a child chasing a ball crossed her mind.

And then she thought of how _inexperienced_ she was with driving fast in the first place, and immediately regretted making the decision altogether.

Honey Lemon barely even got the car moving when she felt something _tuuugging_ the truck from behind. Fact: Globby used to be a human until he stole her Chem-purse and became covered in countless chemicals. How he managed to survive the experience still baffled her, since she knew how deadly chemistry was in the wrong hands. Fact: his primary form was a humanoid figure of average height that looked as though he were covered in purple slime that he could control at will. Fact: he could now change his form to whatever he could think of. Even chocolate. Which he ate.

Baymax questioned if it counted as auto-cannibalism when Globby himself was not completely made of chocolate.

So, instead of driving off and attempting to invoke a car chase that would have most likely resulted in tragic accidents and a visit to the police station, Honey Lemon lifted her foot from the gas pedal slowly applied the brakes, even though the truck was still in place. All it would take was for Globby to suddenly let them go for the force applied to send the truck a distance away. When she was certain that the truck was no longer pulling against Globby, she lifted her foot off the brakes as well. She looked at Cass, who kept her eyes covered as promised when she felt Globby _morphing_ his body close to the driver’s seat. Honey Lemon looked back at Globby and smiled nervously.

“Hey!” Globby glared, “I said you had something of mine! I demand it back, _now!_ ”

“Alright,” Honey Lemon feigned fright, leaning over to pick what fell onto the floor. When she sat up straight again, she quickly tossed what she was holding into Globby’s hands, “Here!”

“Thank you –”

That was all Globby was able to get out before his entire body transformed into a gluey mass that stuck to the street. Honey Lemon threw a blue Chem-ball to encase him in ice just to be safe. She pressed her foot hard on the gas pedal and didn’t slow down until she took several turns to throw Globby off in the event he absorbed the glue and ice at once.

She sighed with relief when no metaphorical pedestrian with either dog or rolling ball came in her way. But she still maintained the speed limit, just to be on the safe side.

The truck came to a halt as it was close to a gas station. Honey Lemon looked at the rear-view and side mirror in case she saw even the slightest hint of purple coming towards them.

“Is he gone?” Cass asked, her hands still covering her face.

Honey Lemon sighed in relief again, “Yeah, Cass, he’s gone.”

She smiled as she held up the box, “And he didn’t get this, either.”

Something _clicked!_ when she squeezed the box. And then the box slowly began unfolding, like paper, and revealed a brass eye, twitching and blinking at them.

“What is that?” Cass gasped.

“I think,” Honey Lemon muttered, “I think this is what Globby was really after…”

**(0-0)**

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Hiro looked over to the door and smiled at the people coming in, “Hey, Go Go. Miss me?”

Go Go said nothing as she walked – no, heel-toed – over to his bed and leaned over, wrapping her arms around him. Hiro sighed into the embrace, wrapping his arms around Go Go and closed his eyes.

“You doing okay, Hiro?” Go Go asked quietly.

“Panic attack at least four hours ago, nothing good on T.V., wondering where Aunt Cass is,” Hiro listed off and then shrugged, “But I’ve had worse days.”

“Good,” Go Go nodded. She pulled away, and Hiro winced, expecting a light whack on the head. When he didn’t feel one, Hiro cracked open one eye and saw her adjusting his blanket.

For a brief moment, Hiro let himself look at Go Go, watching her move stiffly, as though metal prongs were injected into her body. He felt himself paying attention to how her hair shook ever so slightly, never noticing how soft it really looked in the light. What did it look like when it was long? Did Go Go _ever_ have long hair?

“You know,” Hiro started, “I was beginning to think you guys had forgotten all about me.”

He made sure that Go Go saw his teasing smile when she turned around. It slipped from his face when he saw the glare.

“Okay, _not_ funny, I get it,” Hiro put up his hands defensively.

“You should have seen her earlier,” Wasabi walked in, “And all I can say is I do _not_ want to make her mad. Ever.”

“Um…when you say ‘mad’,” Hiro made air quotes, “Do you mean tsundere mad or _really_ mad?”

Go Go groaned, “For the last time, Hiro, I am _not_ a tsundere.”

“You’re angry on the outside, sweet on the inside. A tsundere.”

“No, I’m an _ice queen_ ,” Go Go emphasized.

Wasabi looked lost, “Okay, weird question to ask, but…what’s a tsundere?”

“A tsundere is someone who has a hard time expressing positive emotions around someone they like and so they act aggressive towards them to compensate,” Go Go pointedly looked at Hiro, “And by aggressive, I mean act violent. Like punching someone through the ceiling. Which I don’t do.”

“Yet,” Hiro mumbled loud enough for Go Go to heard. She shot him a look and he shut up.

“So, what did the doctor say?” Go Go sat at the foot of the bed.

“I’ll be out by tomorrow,” Hiro answered, “Just need to make sure I’m not going through anything other than a panic attack. Or PTSD.”

Go Go and Wasabi shared a look of concern. Wasabi looked back at Hiro, “PTSD?”

“From…from…you know…” Hiro said helplessly.

“Oh,” and Wasabi said nothing else.

“And then there was something he said about counseling,” Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. The next part, he muttered quietly, “Don’t know how I’m gonna balance that with Big Hero 6 and school, though…”

“Let’s just focus on getting you out of the hospital in one piece,” Wasabi said reassuringly. Hiro gave a small smile and looked to the television in front of him. He picked up the remote and clicked the power button.

The T.V. flashed to life and the screen showed someone reporting on a recent incident where witnesses saw a purple blob being run over by a truck and then proceeded regenerate itself and chase the people in the truck. Two women, one with long, blonde hair and the other with short, brown hair, were in the truck at the time.

Hiro let the remote slip from his grasp.

“Globby,” he whispered. He looked to Go Go and Wasabi, who looked at each other, and then back at Hiro.

“We _could_ try finding them,” Go Go began, and then raised a finger for silence, “ _Or_ , we could call them.”

She held up her phone, rectangular and black, and unlocked it, tapping it a few times before she held it up. Hiro could make out that the speaker was activated on the phone, letting them hear the electric ringing for a few moments before Honey Lemon’s voice came through.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Honey Lemon, we saw the news. Are you two alright?” Go Go kept her voice level and calm, but Hiro noticed how tightly she gripped the phone.

_“Yeah. We lost him. And, uh, we kinda took something from him by accident,”_ Honey Lemon giggled nervously.

“…what was it?” Go Go sighed.

_“Some kind of eye,”_ Honey Lemon explained, _“Like it was a part of some statue or something.”_

“Well, it isn’t the first time Globby –” Wasabi started and stopped when Go Go elbowed him.

“Aunt Cass, remember?” She hissed.

_“We’re on our way to the hospital right now,”_ Honey Lemon continued. There were some noises on her end, someone else speaking in a frantic whisper before Hiro picked up on Aunt Cass’s voice, _“Is Hiro alright?”_

“Yeah, Aunt Cass, I’m awake,” Hiro said.

_“Hiro! I am so sorry I wasn’t there, I needed to get some of your stuff from the bedroom and…and I brought Shiro with me!”_

Hiro blushed, “My stuffed rabbit? I thought you threw it out.”

_“That was my first gift to you! There was_ no way _I was going to throw it away just because you didn’t want him anymore.”_

He looked at Go Go and Wasabi, expecting them to giggle. They were smiling, the kind that meant _Aw-A-Stuffed-Animal-That’s-So-Cute!_ Hiro wanted to think that was worse, but if he wanted to be honest, he kind of missed seeing Shiro, too. During the First Month, he wanted Shiro by his side so badly.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“A-anyways, I’m just s-staying overnight for observation,” Hiro stammered out, “So, um…are you two okay?”

_“Well, that creep’s gone now. Still don’t know how it happened, I wasn’t looking…”_

Hiro noted to ask Honey Lemon about what happened when Aunt Cass was back home, later.

_“…and we’re almost there, so just sit tight, alright sweetie?”_

“I will, Aunt Cass.”

_“Good. And Hiro? Don’t overexert yourself. We’ll…”_

“I know, Aunt Cass,” Hiro nodded, “See you in a few.”

_“See you in a few,”_ Aunt Cass said in a falsely-cheer voice, _“Gotta hang up, now.”_

_Beep!_

“First thing when I get out of here,” Hiro began, shifting on the thin mattress, “is finding Globby and figuring out what he tried stealing and why.”

“ _We’ll_ take care of it, Hiro,” Go Go insisted, “ _You_ need to relax.”

“It was just a panic attack,” Hiro began.

“And if you do something like go after Globby,” Go Go added in a slightly raised voice,  
“Tadashi’s going to have the panic –”

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep!_

_Dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdonthinkaboutit_ –

“Hiro? HIRO!”

He felt arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a warm chest. His breath slowly started coming back to him, his heart still fluttery. Everything else felt cold. Hiro could barely make out gentle whisperings and calming words, the inflating of Baymax being activated, or how scrunched up his face was feeling.

“Okay, okay, that was my bad,” Go Go said as she held Hiro tightly, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“Just take some time off, Hiro,” Wasabi was by the bed, as well. He engulfed him and Go Go in a hug of his own, Hiro tightly hugging in return, “We’ll take care of the city, you take care of yourself.”

“Alright,” Hiro whispered. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the image of _him_. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it….

**(0-0)**

“So, now what?” Go Go asked Honey Lemon and Wasabi as they stepped out of the hospital. Cass had entered a few minutes later and wouldn’t stop fussing over Hiro, leaving Honey Lemon only a few moments to see him before leaving aunt and nephew alone.

“Globby’s out there and he’s going to try again,” Honey Lemon muttered, examining the eye she showed Wasabi and Go Go only a few moments ago, “And I don’t think it will be safe to keep with me. He saw me use a Chem-ball. He’ll know who I am!”

“Um, Honey Lemon? No offense, but we aren’t exactly hiding our faces when we do patrols,” Go Go muttered.

“And he probably put two and two together when he got your purse the first time and became…. _that_ ,” Wasabi shuddered.

“Oh,” Honey Lemon blushed, “I still think we should keep an eye out for him. He might something sneaky.”

“Well, Fred’s on guard duty with…” Go Go paused for a moment before slowly continuing, “with You-Know-Who, Baymax is on Hiro-sitting duty, so that’s half the team busy for a while.”

“But without Fred’s Super-Jumping and fire-breath, we’re limiting what we can do on patrol,” Wasabi sighed. He paused for a moment and added, “On the other hand, You-Know-Who lost it when we told him about…you know. Right now, Fred should definitely keep him from freaking out again…”

His eyes lit up and he pulled out his phone, “You know what? I’m just gonna tell him to avoid watching the news at all tonight.”

“That’s gonna be hard to do when we all know how bad Fred is with keeping a secret,” Go Go pointed out.

 Wasabi sighed and pinched his nose, “Anything else we could do?”

“We could slip something into his drink,” Honey Lemon suggested, her fingers to the side of her purse, ready to type in the chemical formula.

“We are not doing that,” Go Go glared. Honey Lemon deflated a little. Something vibrated in Go Go’s pocket, “Hold on a sec.”

She pulled out the phone and opened it up, looking at the text message sent.

_Watching movies with T. How’s Little Dude?_

_He’s fine_ , Go Go texted back, _Just woke up. Going on patrol. Don’t. Let. Him. Know._ She withdrew her phone and began running, “Let’s grab our stuff from my apartment and we can get rolling!”

**(0-0)**

“Hm…” Globby stared at the building, “Lucky Cat Café…”

Two things came to mind: First, he should go in and see if the tuna salads there were as good as everyone he knew said they were. Second, after testing the tuna salad, he should pay a visit to that woman later. See if she knew anything about the box her friend took from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn’t as exciting as it should be. Or as long. This was never meant to be long in the first place.  
> There is a link on Tumblr to watch the episodes of the series. A user by the name of atruehiro has the links. Thank Random Dragon Doodles for this information, it’s how I knew about Globby. Globby, on the other hand, was really hard to write because he was just added to make sure this was entertaining.  
> On another note, this fic won’t be going on forever. Hard to write this forever, so I’m aiming for maybe five more chapters before the fic ends. But, to be honest, these chapters will be a bit shorter than I would like them to be.  
> Please review, I want to know if there is anything I can do or add to make this more enjoyable for you guys!


	6. Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive the long absence, I had been working on the story on fanfiction.net and kept forgetting to post the chapters on here.
> 
> Please review!

“And so, with the city’s only defenders cut in half, Big Hero…er… _3_ knew that they were the only thing standing in the way between life and death for all,” Honey Lemon stood tall later in the evening, one foot standing over the ledge, claiming the rooftop her own, her gaze stretching out over the nightlife, “Knowing that whatever life would throw at them, the heroes would always come out on top.”

“Honey Lemon, leave the narrating to Fred.”

“I thought you hated Fred’s narrating,” Honey Lemon blinked and stared at Go Go, perched several feet away from her.

“I do, I just don’t want to hear any narrating,” Go Go said dryly.

“Alright,” Honey Lemon sighed, slumping in defeat. She looked over her shoulder and called out, “Anything on your side, Wasabi?”

“Huh?” Wasabi lowered the binoculars he was using and looked back.

“I said, DID YOU SEE ANYTHING ON YOUR END?” Honey Lemon shouted.

“No,” Wasabi shook his head, “No sign of Globby.”

Go Go looked up front again and stared out into the distance, following cars driving through the noisy roads until they were nothing but small lights in the distance before repeating the process again. She would have rather separated so everyone could have covered more ground, but Go Go just couldn’t bring herself to suggest that. Neither did Honey Lemon and Wasabi, it seemed, since they never brought up the notion, either.

_It’s just Globby, we can worry about him later,_ another part of her brain spoke up, _It’s been a long day for everyone, do you really think you have the energy to do night patrol on top of everything that’s happened?_

_Globby’s after that eye for a reason. We know what he’s capable of and_

She was brought out of her pondering when Honey Lemon cried out:

“Mugging, ten o’clock!”

Honey Lemon tapped at her purse quickly and _pop!_ came out a pink Chem-ball. Something to do with her time. Perfect.

She dropped the ball in front of her and stood on the mass, letting her weight make the pink substance descend. Moments later, she is on the ground and watched Go Go and Wasabi slide down the makeshift slide before following Go Go down an alleyway just in time to someone raise a knife to their intended victim.

He was around Hiro’s age.

Go Go didn’t bother looking at the muggers, didn’t want to register what their faces looked like, because all she could see was a kid being threatened. A child.

All alone.

Right in the middle of an experience that they shouldn’t have been in to begin with.

Without thinking, she lunged forward, slugging someone in the face. They were threatening a child.

_BAM!_ Go Go spun on the spot and tripped, thankful that her helmet absorbed the blow, Wasabi could be heard snarling and ramming into someone else. Go Go picked herself up, remembering the look of fright on the boy’s face. She clenched her fist and winced, realizing that it was the same fist that collided into one of the mugger’s face. Tiny, fragile bones wrapped together by flesh and blood and sinew colliding into a mass of larger, harder collection of bone wrapped together in flesh and blood and teeth and eyes at a high speed. Of course, it would have hurt.

It was worth the throbbing pain in her hand as long as the kid wasn’t –

“Stop the fighting or I gut the kid!”

There it is…

The one holding the kid and the knife close to the kid’s neck went from looking intimidating to frightened when the orange Chem-ball hits them in the face. Followed by one of Go Go’s discs, aimed at the forehead. They fall. The knife falls. The kid trips and scampers over to where Go Go was. The look of fear, the tears threatening to spill over.

_…sitting on the top of the stairs, tuning out the sounds of mourning and remorse. Not responding when asked to come down…_

_Tadashi’s alive._

Go Go leapt onto the one who tried to knife to boy and punched them in the face with her other hand.

_Tadashi’s alive._

An arm snakes onto her front, but Go Go rammed her head against their head, again thankful for her helmet when the _thud!_ comes.

_That isn’t funny, Fred._

The boy that was Hiro’s age tries saying something, but Honey Lemon doesn’t hear and begins to throttle the one who just threatened him.

_TADASHI’S ALIVE!_

Her heart pounded against her chest. Heat flushed around her face.

_YOU BASTARD!_

Go Go punched the mugger again, putting weight onto his neck with one arm, using her free arm to hit him again.

_HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US?!_

And again.

YOU’RE _SORRY?!_

And again.

_WHY DID YOU DO IT?!_

And again.

_WHY?!?!_

And again.

_That kid. That could have been Hiro…_

BAM!

_That could have been Hiro!_

POW!

_Panicked eyes, the name uttered in his presence._

_Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!_

 “That’s enough!” A strong pair of arms wrapped around her torso and lifting her off the ground. Her hands stinging, her breath coming out in pants.

Go Go blinked. What was she doing? She looked down on the ground and gasped, trying to remember how many times she had punched the mugger. She looked around and saw that the boy had run off. She shuddered, wondering how it was from his perception, from being ambushed to witnessing someone on the news go on a rampage.

 “I-I’m sorry,” Go Go stammered, “I don’t know what came over me…”

“Are you…” Honey Lemon paused, her voice taking on a more hesitant tone, “Are you still up for night patrol?”

“Globby’s out there and he might be looking for –”

“We can’t do anything if you’re not one-hundred percent invested,” Honey Lemon continued.

“Are you?” Go Go threw the question back. Go Go flinched and looked down, “What if you do something like I just did? Except there’s no one there to stop you?”

Honey Lemon sighed, “This was a bad idea. Let’s just…go home for now. Let the police handle the crooks.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Wasabi spoke up. When the girls looked at him, he sighed, “Wherever Globby is, he isn’t just gonna swoop around the city. He might be looking for it in places he’d expect us to put it.”

“Makes sense,” Go Go muttered quietly.

“Where is the eye now?” Wasabi asked.

Honey Lemon’s eyes widened, “The apartment!”

Go Go looked at her with wide eyes, “He could be there, now!”

“Or maybe the…” Wasabi groaned, “Why didn’t we stay at the Lucky Cat Café, again?”

**(0-0)**

When the pizza came, it felt piping hot like it was just taken out of the oven. There were three boxes delivered, each topped with peperoni.

_My favorite_ , Tadashi thought, though it didn’t really delight him. The last time he had pizza was when Hiro was still working on his microbots for the Expo. Just something to give Hiro a reason to stop working a little while and relax. And he could _feel_ the tension leave that night, everyone laughing and getting along. Fred’s imitation of an ostrich still made Tadashi chuckle.

At one point, he was giving Hiro a piggyback ride. He hadn’t done that for his brother since he was around ten. Around the time that they stopped hugging each other so much and developed the Fist Bump…and when Hiro started to hate going to school.

Tadashi wondered if he was going to keep on having depressing thoughts all day.

It was the last time they were all together just for fun.

Fred piled on three or four slices onto the paper plate that the butler, Heathcliff, handed to him. Tadashi could barely even get one on his plate at all. When he took a small bite, he was surprised how much it felt like ash in his mouth.

Ash…

_Fire licking – no –_ ravaging _everything in its path. He was surrounded by pillars of flame, his heart pounding against his chest as he tried to look for an escape. Then, he heard the explosion and knew nothing else…_

“Hey, dude, you feeling alright?” Fred was looking at him with concern, about a foot from his face.

“I don’t feel so good…” Tadashi mumbled as he stood up, tumbling out of the room and into the hallway. He couldn’t find it in him to blame the greasy pizza, he couldn’t find it in him to blame the smell, he couldn’t even find it in him to blame the painting.

His hands clenched at his sides and acid rose out from his throat and out of his mouth.

_Tadashi opened his eyes. Was this what death was like? It felt warm and smoldering…His stomach felt icy-cold. What if he wasn’t where he had half-hoped existed? Was this Hell? No, Hell didn’t have sirens in the background or charred remains._

_Tadashi blinked and looked down at himself, unharmed and well. He felt the wind brushing against the top of his head and realized that he didn’t have his hat with him. He blinked again, trying to figure out what was happening. He could recognize the SFIT sign from a distance, but he started noticing that he was surrounded by police tape, cautioning passersby to stay clear of the area._

No _._

_He touched the ground, his heart pounding like a piston…_

“TADASHI!” He could hear Fred in the hallway, calling for the Heathcliff guy. Tadashi became aware of the acidic smell underneath him, the taste on his mouth.

“Dude, lean on me, let’s get you to the bathroom,” One of Tadashi’s arms was over Fred’s shoulders, his legs feeling wobbly.

This wasn’t how he had envisioned his day going. Not one bit.


	7. Everything is Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, I just want to know what I'm doing right and wrong here. Notes at the end.

Aunt Cass had contacted the school to let them know that Hiro was just getting out of the hospital and was staying home for a few days’ recovery. For three days, he tried to calm himself, tried control over himself, tried to continue with everything now that the metaphorical bomb had been dropped on his life. But he couldn’t.

The night at the hospital was lonely, even with Baymax on standby-mode. When Aunt Cass pulled Shiro out of his backpack, he wasn’t able to speak, staring at the old toy like it was a ghost. The only thing he was able to say was,

“I thought you threw him away…”

By the time morning had come and he had woken up, Shiro was still in his arms, smelling of fresh laundry detergent.

Doctor Hoffman had performed that little check-up with him the day he left the hospital – removing most of his clothes and having the EKG set up, much to Hiro’s embarrassment – and declared he was mostly good to go. Mostly.

The only thing left for Hoffman to do was talk to Aunt Cass about what kind of medicine he would be needing and to start that night before going to bed. Hiro put the prescription in his pocket. Aunt Cass thanked Hoffman. Baymax gave an explanation of what the prescribed medicine, Lorazepam, would do, much to the tired frustration of Hoffman – “I already _gave_ an explanation, Baymax!” – and they all piled into the truck and went back to the café…until Hiro remembered to deactivate Baymax and let him rest in his station.

Instead of opening up shop, Aunt Cass had spent the rest of the day looking over Hiro, making sure that he was alright, making sure he was eating and drinking properly. She had called the school and let them know that he wouldn’t be attending class that day, which meant Hiro didn’t have much of an escape. He didn’t start seeing the phone call as that in the beginning, quite the contrary. Hiro honestly thought that he wasn’t going to be able to handle classes on top of learning that Tadas –

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

_Don’t think about it_ , Hiro thought.

– well, on top of what had just happened. Hiro only took a step into his bedroom when thoughts began flooding his mind.

_This is_ our _room._ He _was here._

He had looked by his bedside, during nights when Hiro was younger and suffered from colds. Slowly, but surely being sung to sleep.

_And there._

He looked at _his_ bed. The covers weren’t touched, nothing to indicate that anything was out of the ordinary. Aunt Cass couldn’t bring herself to remove anything from _that_ side of the room.

_And there._

The bean bag chair. All those times playing co-op games.

_And there._

A strong whiff of chemicals close to where he was standing. Hopefully something that wouldn’t damage the wood.

_And just yesterday –_

He came pelting down the stairs a moment later, shaking and curled up in a ball, clinging tightly to Shiro, trying to get the feeling back into his hands. Aunt Cass was by his side a moment later, rubbing small circles into his back until his heart stopped racing.

“I don’t think I can sleep upstairs for a while,” he said weakly. No arguments about it. By nightfall, his bedding and a pillow were propped up on the couch, neatly folded. Shiro sat on top on the blankets, arms permanently outstretched for a hug.

And when it was time to sleep, Aunt Cass had one tablet of the prescription medicine and a cup of water waiting for him. Hiro barely felt the pill, washing it down a moment later. He was barely able to get the empty glass onto the table in front of him before he started feeling drowsy…

And now?

One week.

It was already one week after…things changed. Hiro tried to focus in on what Professor Granville was talking about during her lecture. Beside him, Karmi kept shifting between notetaking and looking at him with narrow eyes. Other than that, however, she had left him alone. He appreciated that. The last thing he needed was more…more drama. And no matter how much he wanted to _try_ being friends with Karmi, he didn’t want to deal with her snippy attitude.

No matter how hard he tried, Hiro couldn’t rid himself of the icy pit in his stomach. He needed a fire, heat, something to banish that icy feeling away forever. He didn’t want to go numb again, like he did during the First Month. He wanted to move on and get on with things.

But things weren’t back to normal…or were they?

He was back to his classes and trying to write down the calculations that Granville was scribbling onto the board. He was still Hiro Hamada, ex-Bot Fighter and Superhero – or Super _Hiro_ , as Honey Lemon once said, being rewarding with snorts and chuckles – and College Student on top of that. He was fine.

The only thing that was out of the ordinary was when Granville asked him to stay behind the first day he came back and asked how he was doing. And if there was anything wrong that he wanted to talk about. Hiro had shaken his head, reassured her and ended the conversation as politely as he could with the mention of not wanting to be late for his next class. Things were fine.

Sure, Globby was still out and about – and Hiro could have _sworn_ that he saw traces of slime near the café, which he told Honey Lemon about – and there was… _him_ , but things were fine.

Soon enough, Granville had paused to look up at the clock and declared that everyone ought to be heading to their next class by now. Hiro was one of the first people up and close to the door when Granville continued,

“Mister Hamada, would you please stay here for a moment? I wanted to have a word with you.”

Hiro sighed and stepped aside to let the crowd pass before him. He caught a glimpse of Karmi in the back, looking at him for a moment with something along the lines of curiosity before she was lost in the sea of people. He walked back towards the center of the room and looked at Granville nervously.

“Is there a problem, Professor?” He asked.

“When your Aunt called me several days ago to inform me that you were taken to the hospital a few days ago, she had informed me that you had suffered from a panic attack,” there was a glint in her eye that Hiro couldn’t recall seeing before. Concern, maybe? “And I just wanted to be sure that the cause isn’t related to school?”

“Nope, nothing school related,” Hiro said quickly, trying to keep his voice from squeaking, “Just something we’re working on right now.”

“Is it a family issue?”

“Nope,” Hiro repeated quickly, “Nothing wrong. Could we finish up? I can’t be late for my next lesson and…”

“I simply want to make sure you’re alright, Mister Hamada,” Granville said with a friendly smile, “Are you certain there isn’t anything you need to discuss?”

Hiro bit his lip and shook his head.

“Very well,” Granville sighed, “Don’t let me hold you up. My door is always open if you need me.”

**(0-0)**

“I’m back,” Hiro called out as he entered the café. He blinked, noticing that the area was completely empty. Odd, the café usually closes around 7:30 in the evening.

“Hold on, sweetie!” Aunt Cass called from upstairs. Hiro blinked. Curiouser and curiouser.

“So, I take it business was slow today?” Hiro asked when Aunt Cass finally emerged.

“I closed shop early today,” Aunt Cass replied as she walked to the door, “There’s no one here to watch the shop, remember?”

“Right,” Hiro rubbed the back of his neck and followed her, “Completely slipped my mind.”

“I also wanted to see this therapist in person, too,” Aunt Cass added as they walked to the truck, “Since…you know, this is important.”

“I could have gotten a ride.” Hiro muttered as they stepped in the truck and watched Aunt Cass start the engine, “You didn’t have to close shop for this.”

“Didn’t you tell me Wasabi lost his van?” Aunt Cass asked without missing a beat.

“Oh,” Hiro looked down, blushing, “Right.”

“Besides, family comes first,” they had just begun to drive down the street, the first intersection coming up.

“This is the guy Doctor Hoffman recommended? You checked with him about the therapist?”

“And I also checked online, too, just to see what other people thought of him. Plenty of parents have recommended him. He’s very nice.”

“Uh-huh.”

Hiro looked out the window, scowling. He heard Aunt Cass sigh,

“Sweetie…I…I know you aren’t comfortable with this. And I know that we both could have needed this when…you know… _it_ happened.”

“You had the café to run,” Hiro mumbled quietly, “You had to keep a roof over our heads.”

“I could have done more,” Aunt Cass said, “I could have…maybe ask one to come see us instead of going halfway across town when you were holing yourself in your room. Or, or maybe I could have tried hiring some workers so I could have been there for you. Or –”

“Aunt Cas!” Hiro turned and faced her with wide eyes, “You did nothing wrong!”

“You mean it was okay for me to leave you in your room all day and only bring up food during meal times?” Aunt Cass countered, her voice becoming louder and her eyes brimming with tears, “It was okay that I _didn’t_ try finding a grief counselor or made sure you were actually breathing? It was okay that I didn’t try harder?!”

“No, I mean yes, I mean,” Hiro groaned, “I was pushing you away. I ignored _everyone_! It wasn’t your fault!”

“IT _WAS_ BECAUSE IT MEANT I WAS FAILING AS A PARENT!” Aunt Cass shouted.

They were coming up towards a stop sign, now. Hiro tried not to look at Aunt Cass and see the tears in her eyes. How long had she been keeping this in for?

“I…” Aunt Cass shuddered, “I promised your mother I would look after you and Tada –”

She caught herself at the end and corrected herself, “And _him_ , in the event that…she wasn’t able to. I almost lost you, too. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t activate Baymax and –”

Aunt Cass stopped when Hiro wrapped his arms around her as best as he could buckled in.

“Stop going over the what ifs,” Hiro whispered, “ _Please_.”

He almost smiled when he felt a hand gently comb through his hair, “I’ll try, sweetie. I’ll try.”

**(0-0)**

“Name?”

“Cass Hamada. I’m bringing my nephew to see Magnus Rogers for therapy?”

“Do you have the proper paper work with you?”

“Yes, they’re right here.”

The lady at the receptionist desk smiled, “Just sit tight, he’ll be with you in a moment.”

Hiro and Aunt Cass both waited on the plastic chairs in the waiting room – Hiro fidgeted on the seat, trying to get comfortable, but everywhere else was full – trying to busy themselves with the magazines provided. Aunt Cass wouldn’t stop tossing the magazines aside until she found one with cooking recipes. Hiro tried finding one that had something other than gossip or kiddie stuff until he gave up and pulled out his phone.

**Hey** , he texted Go Go, **any luck with Globby?**

**Nothing** , Go Go replied back, **checked the café. No sign of him.**

**R u sure I can’t help?**

**Take care of yourself first,** Go Go replied. Hiro could hear the tired frustration and worry in her voice speaking into his ear. **Your overdue for a break.**

**It’s been a WEEK** , Hiro protested, **I think I’m all set to get back onto patrol with u guys.**

**We’re taking a little break, too, kid** , Hiro blinked. _That_ was news to him. **Alright if I swing by later tonight? Got a movie**

**Comedy or action?**

**Comedy. Fred’s idea.**

Hiro chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Aunt Cass was suddenly looking over his shoulder.

Hiro nearly yelped and pulled the phone away from her line of vision, “Aunt Cass! Ask first.”

“What?” Aunt Cass blinked, “Oh, sorry.”

“Go Go was wondering if she could come over tonight. A comedy film,” Hiro smirked as he added, “And it was Fred’s idea.”

“Oh.” Aunt Cass shrugged, “Tell her she can come over for dinner.”

**Aunt Cass is promising food if you make it to dinner** , Hiro texted.

A moment later, Go Go’s response was three words, **Cool. L8tr, then.**

The door near the receptionist’s desk opened up a moment later, a dark-skinned man in a blue buttoned-down dress shirt and pants coming out from it.

“Hiro?” The man looked at Hiro with a friendly smile. Hiro tried to return it, but he was currently trying not to think of how many ways this encounter could go wrong – he had already gone up to “Secretly A Villain and Using Therapist as a Front for Kidnapping/Brainwashing Patients for Some Vague Plot of Nephariousness” – and also wishing that he had brought Baymax along in his station.

Instead, he nodded.

The man held out his hand, “Magnus Rogers, are you ready for your first session?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Granville. Is. Refreshing. Not the sadist teacher that kids’ shows love to have, I’m happy with a change in things here. I’d like to have her as a teacher – though the closest I got to her was an acting/screenwrite teacher who was friendly but somehow managed to be intimidating by just being in the room at times XD. I thought he was pretty cool, though. – and hope Hiro will consider her his favorite teacher by the end of the series…and maybe his only teacher if no new characters in the SFIT staff aren’t introduced at all.  
> I was worried how I was writing Aunt Cass. Part of me was thinking that she was making it about how everything going on was affecting her and another part of me was thinking that she felt like she was screwing up in the parenting department for not doing the counseling sooner. I mean, what would she be thinking at a time like this?  
> Between my own experience with counseling and doctor appointments, I simply winged the part about forms. Let me know in the reviews if I got anything wrong, I’m trying to keep it accurate.


	8. Discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting all chapters tonight before the year is up. So sorry for the delay, my laptop needs a new battery and I'm struggling to get the new one in.
> 
> Please, I know people are reading this, I'd appreciate some reviews on this site for this fic...

Hiro took in the room surrounding him as he sunk into one of the cushioned seats. The walls were a pale yellow with only a few pictures with landscapes. On the desk in front of him, Hiro noticed a framed photo of another man with his arm around Rogers and a child several years younger than Hiro smiling at the camera. 

_Okay, clearly nothing that says ‘I’m a villain’ but I better stay on my toes_. Hiro thought. 

Rogers walked in front of him and sat down on the chair near the desk, “So, Hiro. Is this your first time seeing a therapist?” 

Hiro nodded slowly. It made his stomach clench, thinking of the discussion he just had in the car with Aunt Cass. He worded himself carefully, “Sooo, are we just going to talk about…the reason that I’m here?” 

Rogers shook his head, “No. We just talk about whatever it is you want to talk about.” 

Hiro blinked, “Really?” 

Rogers nodded. 

Hiro looked up at the ceiling, “That’s, uh, not what I was expecting.” 

“Have you had other experiences with counseling before today?” 

Hiro shook his head, “Well, this really  _is_  my first time, actually. I blame movies. Well, actually, I blame  _one_  movie I saw.” 

“Ah,” Rogers nodded in understanding, “They tend to give us a bad name sometimes. What’s the one you were thinking of?” 

“Patch Adams,” Hiro snorted, “With Robin Williams. I remember this scene where the character was talking to a therapist and all the guy did was write on a notepad like he was in a classroom and read back what he thought Adams was saying…I…” 

He swallowed hard and tried again, “I had to walk out of the room after that. A few minutes later, Fred had a bowl of ice cream in his hands, sat down beside me and said we didn’t have to watch the movie if I didn’t want to.” 

“Did it bring up bad memories?” Rogers asked gently. 

“It,” Hiro bit his lip, “It felt like…I was looking at what I would be like in the future. Depressed and nothing to look forward to. When the others found out, Fred nearly got his head chewed off. I had to step in.” 

“So, your friend, Fred. It was an accident. He must have enjoyed the movie and thought that you would as well.” 

“Yeah. Fred doesn’t really come off like a jerk,” Hiro smirked, “One time, he called himself a manchild.” 

Rogers blinked, “So Fred’s an adult?” 

Hiro shrugged, “Kind of. I mean, he’s got to be around 19 or 20 – I never asked how old he was – but he sometimes acts like an 8-year-old. I guess that’s why I like hanging out with him. He doesn’t look down on me.” 

“Do adults tend to do that with you?” 

“Sometimes,” Hiro shrugged, “Through middle school and high school, I had teachers who couldn’t believe some little kid could have skipped so many grades. It got really boring in the end; I started to imitate what they were going to say to me right as they were saying it. I got called to the principal’s office a few times ‘cause of that. One of the teachers actually sent me there because I mimicked her  _too_  well. 

“But, I mean, SFIT is pretty different. When I was told the new dean was a ‘hard case’, I was expecting the worst. And then I actually meet her and suddenly, I end up  _liking_ her. Professor Granville also ended up being one of my teachers and my advisor for the semester, so I ended up seeing her more often than I expected to.” 

“Granville…” Rogers mulled over the word, “Tall, slim, dark-skinned, sometimes scary beyond all reason?” 

Hiro snapped his fingers, “That’s the one!” His eyes widened a moment later, “Wait, you  _know_  her?!” 

Rogers shrugged, “Not personally. She’s been in the news a few times in the past. Always gave that vibe.” 

“That’s what Fred’s been saying for the past few weeks, now,” Hiro rolled his eyes. 

“How did you and Fred meet?” Rogers smiled. 

“Well, it was about a few months ago, actually,” Hiro rubbed the back of his neck, “I was visiting the school with Tada….” 

His chest felt cold, tightening every second. Hiro squeezed his eyes shut  _dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutit_ _!_  

“Hiro? Hiro are you okay?” 

His chest felt tight and his lungs felt like they had been fighting for some air. His fists were clenched together tightly, his fingernails pinching against his palms. Breathe. Focus.  _Why didn’t I bring Shiro in with me? Oh yeah, I didn’t want to be treated like a baby_ _…_  

Hiro opened his eyes and started to notice that Rogers had walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, staring at him with concern, his other hand holding up a cell phone most likely in case Hiro didn’t respond. Hiro sighed, “Sorry…” 

“It’s okay, Hiro,” Rogers said gently, “Nothing to be sorry about. Are you okay?” 

Hiro nodded. 

Rogers pulled his hand away, “Do you want to talk about something else?” 

Hiro shook his head, much to his own surprise. The iciness in his chest was still there, but…but he couldn’t keep  _doing this!_  He couldn’t keep feeling helpless. He was a superhero; if everyone was going to be pulling him out of the hole he fell into, Hiro knew he had to put in the effort to get himself out of it as well. 

“Well,” Hiro fought down the iciness in his stomach and forced himself to speak, “Fred and I met through…a mutual friend. Through….my brother.” 

He sighed in relief. It felt as though some pressure had been removed. It took a moment for him to realize he was smiling.  _Smiling_ _._  

“Is this the first time you were able to mention him without any stress?” Rogers asked. 

“Yeah,” Hiro nodded, “I think it is.” 

“Good. So,  _Patch Adams…_ what made you want to watch it?” Rogers asked. 

“I was with Fred. He has a huge collection of movies at his house and when he heard that I didn’t know anything about Robin Williams, he told me he was the Genie in  _Aladdin_ _,_ ” Hiro smiled, “and that’s when he started showing me all the other films he made, and it just turned into a weekly thing. I come over to his house and we’d watch a movie together. Sometimes, the others would be there, too.” 

“Others?” 

“Our friends; Honey Lemon, Go Go, and Wasabi,” Hiro listed, before he saw the odd expression come over Rogers’ face, “Those aren’t their real names.” 

“Then what are they?” Rogers asked curiously. 

“I….” Hiro paused and started to frown, “I…I actually don’t know…” 

“…” 

Hiro shrugged indifferently, “Don’t blame me, we just never got around to talking about that.” 

“Noted,” Rogers said slowly, but Hiro could see he was trying not to chuckle. 

**(0-0)**  

“They rebuilt it,” Tadashi muttered. 

Fred rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, they kind of  _had_  to. It wasn’t a pretty sight when…you know…” 

Tadashi nodded and took another step towards the Exposition Hall, taking in the sight of support plants and ladders leaning against half-built walls. He tried not to look in front of the building, where fresh flowers were laid on the ground in a pile. Reds and yellows and purples. Tadashi recognized the yellow ones as daisies and shuddered to think how many people had laid them there just for two people. And how painful and infuriating it might be when they realize that neither of them were dead in the first place. 

“Look Tadashi,” Fred started, “I know you want to do the whole ‘See the Place Where I Almost Died’ thing. Captain Fancy did that twice in his original run…or at least, I  _think_ it was Captain Fancy. That’s not important. Do you know how many people on campus are gonna want to have their eyes checked when they see  _you_  walking in broad daylight.” 

“Your dad’s working on getting me declared alive,” Tadashi shrugged, “We’ll be fine. I just want to come here and…” 

“And…?” Fred prompted after a minute of silence. 

Tadashi turned to him, “I know I survived the fire, I just can’t really remember  _how_. I was thinking that, maybe if I went to the scene, I could job my memories a little bit.” 

Fred nodded sagely, “Makes sense, I like what you’re thinking.” 

Tadashi looked back to the Exposition Hall, “And maybe I could see if I could recreate what happened in there.” 

“Annnnd you lost me,” Fred tried not to look nervous. 

“It’s just like I said, Fred,” Tadashi continued, “One minute, I’m in front of the building and the next thing I know, I’m standing inside of what was left. And I then I touched the ground again and everything went black. I  _need_  figure out what’s happening and I need someone to see it, too!” 

“Okay, I see you’re taking the route of the Hulk, I like it so far,” Fred nodded, still pale, “But how am I supposed to keep you from…you know…disappearing again?” 

“First thing I remembered the day I came back was thinking about Hiro and Aunt Cass. If I don’t pull myself out quick enough, just call out to me.” 

“You know this is a bad idea, right?” Fred asked. 

Tadashi sighed, “I know. But it’s the best plan we’ve got.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the counseling scenes from Bad Idea, I base them off my own personal experience. No drugs, no medication – except to help Hiro’s anxiety – just talking. And I tried to do a little additional research and ended up seeing reviews for one area that is most likely near my location, most of them calling the staff “cold and uncaring.” 
> 
> I have seen this cliché of apathetic doctors in Hurt/Comfort fanfics on this site and I intend to avoid that issue here. A doctor acting any way like that towards patients is practically begging “Please, have me barred from practicing psychology/medicine. I am not fit for this field and only care about the money and will treat you with contempt where none is needed or wanted” (and it really begs the question about why they decided to become a therapist/doctor, to begin with). 
> 
> That being said, I wanted to try fleshing out the therapist, so he wouldn’t be a carbon copy of Hoffman from a few chapters ago. The background details in the chapter can give you a few hints about Rogers, I hope. 
> 
> Also recalled a scene from another BH6 fic called Breathe which is basically “What if Hiro didn’t activate Baymax in the movie and dealt with the loss through unhealthy coping mechanisms” where Hiro wouldn’t even talk to the therapist Aunt Cass tried making him see. I just wanted to have a scenario where Hiro would benefit from counseling rather than reject it. Poor kid…


	9. Pain

Wasabi stared at the book, memorizing several passages that he knew would some up in the quiz next week. He pulled out a page-marker and  _carefully_  placed it next to a phrase that he knew would be important. And then adjusted it when he saw that it was at least half a degree off. A place for everything and everything in its place.

He went to the next page, meticulously looking over each word eight times before he began to mark up phrases that he knew would be important. He was tuning everything else out. The scribbling of marker on sheet paper.

Then he heard a chair scrapping against the floor and looked up.

Wasabi smiled, “Hey man.”

Hiro smiled tiredly at him. Wasabi could see the bags under his eyes, “Hey.”

“Heard you went to your first session last night. How’d it go?”

“Better than I thought it would,” Hiro said as he put his bag on the table and pulled out his laptop, “He wasn’t pressing me to talk about stuff I didn’t want to and we ended up just…talking.”

“What do you mean?” Wasabi asked, leaning forward a little. 

“Just…talk,” Hiro gestured vaguely in the air, focusing his attention on the screen flashing to life in front of him. Wasabi made a note to talk to Hiro about not putting his face so close to a laptop screen. If he wasn’t careful, then he could damage his eyesight. He continued, “I told him about you guys and he told me about his husband and daughter. That reminds me…”

He looked up from the screen and stared at Wasabi, “What  _is_  your real name?”

“My… _real_  name?” Wasabi repeated.

“When I first met you guys, Tada –” Hiro stopped and took a deep breath, “My…my brother said that Fred gave you those names.”

“And?”

“And unless Fred actually created you guys from scratch and is smarter than he claims to be, that means I never really got your real names,” Hiro concluded.

Wasabi blinked, “Oh yeah. Guess we got used to being called those names after a while.”

“Sooo….?” Hiro paused.

“Oh.  _OH_. Right. My name,” Wasabi stammered, “It’s…uh, well,  my  _real_ name is –”

“Could you two keep it down?!” Wasabi jumped and looked over to the direction the voice came from. Karmi was sitting two tables away from them, glaring at them. Wasabi was surprised to hear Hiro snap back,

“Study somewhere else if it bothers you, then!”

Wasabi turned back to Hiro, “Dude, that was a little harsh –”

“It’s not like she can’t just  _ignore_  us,” Hiro emphasized, a meaningful look on his now aggravated face, “That’s what  _I’d_  do. And I’m going to do it.”

He went back to his laptop, the hard expression now gone. Wasabi thought that the smile was a little forced, but he wasn’t going to push the poor kid.

Karmi didn’t say anything else, but Wasabi saw her scowl deepen a little while she went back to her work.

**(** **0-0** **)**

“Thanks for the extra hand, Go Go,” Cass smiled while Go Go brought another tray of food to a nearby table, “You sure you don’t want to make this a more permanent thing?”

“I got SFIT and my bike courtier job to worry about,” Go Go shrugged as she rolled back over to the countertop – she was using her roller skates – and picked up another tray with tuna salads fresh from the oven, “Can’t say I could handle another job, even if it is part-time. Why don’t you get some workers?”

“Yeah,” Cass nodded, looking thoughtful, “I should.”

The conversation stopped as Go Go continued going back and forth, delivering food and dirty dishes, back and forth and without much to say.

Go Go couldn’t truly admit she was a full-time student. Bills don’t pay themselves and she hadn’t lived with her parents since she was 18. The financial support and living under someone else’s roof was pretty tempting, but she was a legal adult. She wanted to live on her own, anyways. And she never looked back. Though, she did miss her dad’s cooking and seeing her parents on a frequent basis. She just couldn’t help but think of her parents whenever she saw Cass or Hiro.

Or Tadashi.

Go Go bit her lip. It had been a week since they last saw each other. It had been three months since she thought he was dead. And how did she react? She  _slapped_  him. Not once did the sense of joy overcome her in that moment. All she felt was anger and confusion. And fear.

Fear for Hiro, who had to be taken to a  _hospital_  and needs to see a therapist. This was starting to become old news to her now, but the shock was still fresh in her mind.

_How did you survive?_ Go Go thought. Tadashi  _tried_ to say something, but she cut him off. All she wanted to do was unleash all the rage she wasn’t able to set upon Callaghan or Yama or anybody that would have been a great punching bag.

And it took just going on patrol  _once_  for her to see what it did to her.  

“It’s nice,” Cass continued a few minutes later, “really nice that Hiro has you all for friends. You do practically everything together.”

“Not completely true,” Go Go responded with a smirk, “I like being by myself sometimes. I have a life outside of college and the others.”

_Like bird-watching, for instance. Thanks for following me all the way into the woods, Hiro and Fred, and not letting that hobby be a secret_ _and for_ not  _respecting my privacy like any sane individual would_ _._

“I know what you mean,” Cass nodded, “I love my horror movies with Mochi. It gets a little lonely, though.”

“Maybe you should try –” Go Go stopped herself. Try what? Dating? She saw how well  _that_ turned out to be with  _Krei_  of all people. She just wanted to punch that bastard now. They saved his life  _countless_  times and how does he thank them? Gives them a security robot to fix and threatens to expose them as Big Hero 6 if they didn’t comply. And his lawyers managed to make a contract out of this?! The worst part was when she did a little digging about how  _that_  would have really turned out. Not an easy thing to do, considering how both vague and specific she had to be when she looked it up online.

Fact: what Krei did constituted blackmail and withholding evidence from the police. That makes him compliant to their actions as Big Hero 6 as vigilantes. He might have lawyers, but he would still get in trouble if word got out he knew and didn’t say anything to the authorities. Now, as long as nobody else finds out and doesn’t try to pull anything rash –

“The funny thing is, though,” Cass continued, “This started happening since Hiro began attending SFIT.”

Go Go nodded absentmindedly and picked up another tray.

“And the same time that Big Hero 6 showed up.”

She nearly dropped the tray of dishes to the floor but kept her grip. Go Go kept her tone even, as though she were discussing the weather,

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not what you call a ‘Ha-Ha’ kind of person.”

“Would you find it funny if the big guy in red had the same eyes Baymax did?”

“Only if we did a comparison,” Go Go said quickly, “Cass, I need to get these dishes out of the way, we can talk later.”

“That’s what Hiro always said,” she heard Cass mutter under her breath.

**(0-0)**

“d – and she kept insisting that I had a crush on her,” Hiro stretched his legs over the arms of the couch, “All because I kept saying ‘hi’ to her and bringing up the project Granville assigned us to do together.”

“But aside from your friend, Honey Lemon, you never saw anyone else you were attracted to?”

Hiro made a face, “Honey Lemon’s the  _sweetest_  person around, she has that effect on people. Once I got to know her, I guess I got over it. No one else, though.”

“Did you say that Karmi doesn’t have any friends at SFIT?”

Hiro nodded slowly, “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it fair for her to be mean to  _me!_ ”

“No, it doesn’t,” Rogers agreed.

Hiro sighed, “I’m just glad she stopped accusing me of the whole crush thing. I mean, where did  _that_  come from?”

“Did you ever think that Karmi never had anyone come up to her more than once and acknowledge her existence?”

Hiro looked up with a surprised look on his face.

Rogers continued, “Suspecting you having a crush on her is far-fetched, but your friends told you that she doesn’t have any friends of her own. Even after she acted mean to you, you still bothered trying to talk to her.”

Yeah,” Hiro interjected, “because we had an  _assignment_  to do together. I  _had_  to talk to her and do the journal.”

“Maybe she thought that you would have been scared away after she acted mean to you the first time,” Rogers pointed out, “Maybe she was surprised and tried to make excuses for herself. I can’t say for certain on her behalf, though.”

“All I want is for her to loosen up a little,” Hiro grumbled, “I mean, if we can just be friends, I’d be happy with just that.”

Rogers nodded, “That’s a positive outlook to have, but you shouldn’t let her push you around. Even if what you say is true, no one deserves to be treated like that.”

Hiro shrugged, “It’s just annoying. Compared to middle school and high school, she’s been pretty tame. Kind of hard to take her seriously, to be honest.”

“How does Karmi interact with you, then?”

“She makes jabs about my age once or twice, she gets irritated if I do something stupid like when I had the cold and sneezed on some fruit,” Hiro paused, “You know, I think she’s only gotten mad at me for stuff like that. Other than that, I think she just tolerates me. The worst thing she’s done was take pictures of me making mistakes or getting embarrassed, and even those times were tame.”

Rogers frowned though, “That still wasn’t nice of her.”

“Yeah,” Hiro agreed, “I mean, it wasn’t nice.”

 He paused for a moment, wanting to change the topic, “Did  _you_  ever notice anybody when you were younger?”

Rogers chuckled, “Not that I need to go into detail, but I noticed a few.”

Hiro remembered the photo on Rogers’ desk, “When did you meet your husband? …that is, if you mind me asking…”

“Not at all,” Rogers picked up a fidget ball and held it out in his hand as though calculating its weight, “It was eight years ago. I just started out in Boston and met him on my lunch break. We just…talked. And it was just about similar interests we had. We started meeting each week and then, we just started going out.”

Hiro smiled, “That’s really sweet.”

“Thank you, Hiro,” Rogers smiled back, “Did you want to get back on how you met your friends?”

“There’s not much to say,” Hiro shrugged, “After that, they helped me prep for the Expo and…”

His voice faltered into quietness.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, Hiro, you know that.”

“I know…” Hiro muttered, nodding his head weakly, “I know…”

**(0-0)**

“It’s been two weeks,” Honey Lemon said pleadingly to Hiro one day, “Can’t you at least  _try_  talking to Tada –”

“No,” Hiro said briskly, “I’ll talk to him when I’m ready to talk to him.”

“But he  _misses_  you,” Fred protested, “He told me that. He’s been wanting to talk to you about what happened.”

“Fred, I hate to break it to you, but I’m  _not_  really comfortable with this discussion,” Hiro retorted.

“But –”

“But  _nothing_ , Fred!” Hiro returned to his work, trying to ignore how his insides shivered more and more.

“But what about the therapist?” Honey Lemon asked.

“I told him I didn’t want to talk about it with him yet,” Hiro didn’t look up from his work, “He said we’d talk about it when I was ready. That’s how therapy  _works_ _._  I won’t talk to him until I’m ready.”

No one knew if Hiro was referring to the counselor or his brother at the final statement and didn’t dare ask for clarification.

**(0-0)**

Tadashi sighed and clenched his fists together. Fred stood by, ready to act if necessary.

“On my mark,” Tadashi said. Heathcliff nodded and readied himself as well. On the monitor screen, Fred’s father, Frederick Fredrickson the III, was nodding here and there while parrying an oncoming blade. Tadashi had stopped acting surprised with each new thing he learned about his friend and simply greeted the man politely. He didn’t care to ask why Mr. Frederickson was barely clothed and how he was surviving in what looked like a climate unsuited for bare skin. It reminded him of their current project.

“Now!”

They waited for a second signal, in case things were to go wrong, but then sighed with relief when the signal didn’t come. Several moments later, Tadashi was brushing off his clothes and accepted a bottle of water from Heathcliff. He smiled at Fred and asked,

“How’s Hiro doing?”

Fred’s grin slid off his face and he shook his head. Tadashi sighed.

“I don’t want him to be afraid of me…”

“He’s  _not_ afraid of you,” Fred said hesitantly, “He’s just…adjusting.”

“So why hasn’t he tried talking to me? Why hasn’t he tried sending me messages?”

Fred slumped, “I don’t know.”

**(0-0)**

It was at least four weeks since counseling with Rogers started that it happened again. Hiro was taking his lunch break. Fred was beside him reading a comic, but he wasn’t paying attention to the words or the action.

Then Karmi walked by. Hiro ignored her at first, and she him. But then she said something he didn’t expect,

“Is your brother, Tadashi, alive?”

He didn’t know how she knew. He didn’t know why she asked. It was a few seconds before he could let the words sink it, and then his heart started hammering against his chest.

Hiro’s breath began to quicken. In and out. Out and in.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“Hiro?” Fred looked up from his comic book, eyes widening with fear. Karmi looked skeptical and unnerved at the same time.

“Hiro?”

_Are you alright?_

_I’m fine, but Callaghan’s still in there!_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Hiro slid off his chair and landed on the ground with a  _thud!_

“Is…is he alright?” Karmi asked to no one in particular nervously.

_Tadashi!_

_Callaghan’s in there. Someone_ _has to_ _help!_

“Hey,” Karmi snapped her fingers in front of him, “Talk to me. What are you doing?”

_TADASHI!_

A flash. An explosion.

_Snap! Snap!_  Karmi’s fingers went.

“Karmi, you shouldn’t do that!” Fred tried to pull her away.

_He went in there to save you!_

_THAT WAS HIS MISTAKE!_

“Would you quit being a drama queen and answer –?!”

“SHUT UP, KARMI!” Hiro screamed, panicking.

A fist in her gut, knocking the wind out of her.

Chairs collapsing to the floor.

Hiro running out of the lunch room, wheezing and fighting back tears.

Karmi fought back her own tears as she clutched her stomach. She hesitantly accepted a hand up from Fred as a crowd began to form around them.

“Wh-what did I do?” She said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiro’s lash of anger is something that can happen if a person is agitated in a panic attack. I used a scene from Iron Man 3 as basis, as Tony was stated to be suffering from anxiety attacks since The Avengers.


	10. Tears

He wanted to run. He wanted to run as far away as he could. Why did he think he could handle this? There was no escaping the pain and fear and frustration. He was supposed to be in control, so why did he just lost it?

Hiro pelted down the hallways, biting down the bile in his mouth and the screams in his throat. He needed to get away, there were too many reminders. He tried to handle the problem, but just one mention of – 

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep_ _!_

– him, just  _one_ , sent him into another spiral. He wasn’t going to get better, Hiro just knew it.

What was wrong with him?

He stopped to collect his breath, numbly aware of the tears rolling down his face. Hiro coughed and tried to breathe in and out, but it only made more tears flow. He could hear his heart rattling in his chest, he had to calm himself down.

_Happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts._ _F-Fred’s_ _Brotillion_ _. Aunt Cass got the money for the new coffee machine and then the party ended up being in the Lucky Cat. What else?_ _Mochi clapping. Man, I want to hug that little guy._

His breath finally started to slow, but his train of thought continued.

_Trying on Wasabi’s suit and stopping Noodle Burger_ _Boy_ _._ _Wasabi looked_ so  _proud and happy that we were working together._ _Did Honey Lemon take a picture of us? I can’t remember…_ _she said I was cute in the outfit…_

He rested a hand on a nearby chair and nearly focused all his weight on it.

_Any time that Go_ _Go_ _smiled._ _She really needs to do that more often._ _And when_ _Baymax_ _was rebuilt –_

Hiro stopped. Baymax being rebuilt. Tadashi being alive. Two people he cared about gone in an instant and back just as quickly, like they were pulling a prank on him. What was the difference? Baymax never told him about his Healthcare chip in the glove back in the portal dimension. Why? Was it meant to be a surprise?

Was everyone out against him for a  _laugh_?! Was every bad thing that he or someone else connected to him just a case of someone wanting to be amused for a moment?

Or was it some form of karma? Callaghan started this to get his daughter back at the cost of Tadashi and Baymax, but he’s stuck in prison for the rest of his life. Hiro wanted closure and was starting to get it until recently. Everything he wasn’t able to say to Tadashi out of pride or fear was flung back in his face like an accusation. Every passing moment that he tried to move on now felt hollow and pointless. What was the point in mourning someone if they weren’t dead? What was the point in closing wounds if they would just be opened up again?

His hand brushed against clutter; nuts and bolts and crumpled paper. Hiro looked up and paused. So this was where he was? What better place to run off to when the world was too much than a place you were comfortable in?

He waited for the dreaded iciness to return, to remind him that he was treading on more painful reminders, but it didn’t come to him. Because this was  _his_  lab as much as it was – or still is – Tadashi’s.

Hiro took a deep breath and wiped his face of any tears that hadn’t dried. He wasn’t going to get passed this by avoiding the issue. What was it about all this that scared him the most? It didn’t take long for Hiro to find the answer, and he knew what he was going to talk about in his next counseling session.

**(0-0)**

“It’s good to see you again, Hiro,” Rogers greeted the boy as he was led into the office, “I hope you’re doing alright.”

“Not really,” Hiro shook his head, “I’m taking the medicine and all…but the days I forget to take them are just awful.”

“You could make reminders for yourself or have your robot, Baymax do that for you.”

“I can’t always depend on Baymax to do stuff for me,” Hiro said, “I’ll put a reminder on my phone.”

“Alright. I’m sorry you’ve been having these attacks, Hiro.”

“It’s fine,” Hiro lied and he knew that Rogers knew, “There’s something else I wanted to talk about…I wanted to talk about…the night the fire happened.”

Rogers nodded, but his face was neutral. Hiro couldn’t tell if he was for or against the idea.

_Maybe it’s just part of his job. Like waiting for me to want to talk about it._  He thought.

Hiro took a deep breath and let out a hollow chuckle instead, “It’s really funny. I was so focused on what happened that night I forgot about everything else that happened earlier. I know I was working all night on the microbots and Aunt Cass insisted I finish in the morning, but I stayed up anyways and finished up under an hour. Then I was dragged off to bed and all I could think was how nervous I was feeling about it, and I still don’t know how I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was yawning and getting up and it felt like I  _did_  get some sleep because I just felt better.”

Hiro took another deep breath and continued.

“I didn’t eat much that day because I was so excited and nervous and Aunt Cass kept telling me to eat and even piled stuff onto my plate that I liked. Fried eggs, sausages, pears and plums and grapes. I still didn’t eat it, because I don’t think I had any appetite. I couldn’t really focus on anything, except for this wrestling match with Tada –”

Another deep breath.

With Tadashi. I mean, I’ve sparred with him to pass the time when I was still in high school, because we both took self-defense classes.”

“You said you took them to deal with bullies?” Rogers interrupted.

Hiro nodded, “Yeah, and no one really bothered me when I got in high school. It was different, though, because it was just tussling. Like grapples and wet-willies and noggies. Then, he just started tickling me and said he wouldn’t stop if I didn’t say ‘Uncle’.”

He grinned, “I don’t remember the last time I did that with him, probably when I was ten.”

_The same time I stopped having Shiro sleep in my bed. I can’t believe how much I missed that dusty_ _ol_ _’ bunny._  He thought.

“It wasn’t really far from my house – the college, I mean – so, we just called the others over and had them help us get them to the showcase on time. It took us at least half an hour since we were going slow and then I saw how much tech there was being shown and I felt…nervous. I hadn’t been challenged mentally for a long time and for the first time, I was feeling scared. What if I didn’t get accepted? What then? And the others just  _knew_  how much it was worrying me and were just telling me I could do it, because I  _really_ wanted to go.”

“You’re blessed with good friends, Hiro,” Rogers smiled.

Hiro smiled back, “I know.”

A pause.

“I thought I wasn’t going to get in after the first few seconds of my presentation. But I looked at Tadashi and he mouthed ‘Breathe’ and the rest of the presentation went well. In the end, a huge crowd had formed, and they were all cheering. For me.”

Hiro chuckled, “For.  _Me._  I never knew how good it felt to have people you never knew just looking so excited and amazed at what you can do. The rest of it was just a blur…”

_Except for a few things like_ _Krei_ _and…Callaghan…_  Hiro couldn’t bring himself to say this out loud. He was afraid of telling his therapist of secrets that the man shouldn’t be in the know of, for his own safety.

“Aunt Cass promised to celebrate and that dinner was on her and that was the first time I realized how hungry I was. Tadashi and I just stayed behind to talk a little bit, and I just thought that nothing could have ruined that moment.”

His tone became darker and he fought at the iciness in his heart. He would be in control this time. He would be master of himself, “And I guess you know Finagle’s Law; if something bad is going to happen, it will. So, we saw smoke rising from the Expo Hall and we just ran towards it. People were running out…flames were starting to build…we didn’t know what had happened. And then someone tells us that…Callaghan was still in there…and then Tadashi starts heading  _into_  the building…”

Hiro felt his head become numb, like it was getting detached from the rest of his body.

 “I grab his hand to stop him. And then…” Hiro’s lip trembled, “he looked me  _right in the eyes_  and…” He stopped for a moment, before continuing, “And…he just said ‘ _Callaghan’s in there. Someone_ _has to_ _help!’_ ” Hiro started chuckling quietly. Rogers flinched as the chuckling grew louder and more hysterical before Hiro was laughing in a tremendous voice, his face streaked with tears.

“Hiro,” Magnus spoke quietly. Hiro didn’t seem to hear him and slunk into the seat more deeply, still laughing as tears began to run down his face. Without a second thought, Magnus got up from his chair and moved over to Hiro’s place, helping him up and wrapping his arms around the boy with the practiced air of someone used to comforting a child.

Hiro simply threw his arms around Rogers’ neck and sobbed louder. Several minutes passed, only Hiro’s sobbing filling the room with sound.

“Shh,” Rogers said softly, “Let it out, Hiro. Let it out.”

“I…I just…” Hiro tried again, “ _WHY_  am I  _still_ upset over this?! He’s  _ALIVE!_  I should be  _HAPPY! ELATED!_  Callaghan’s in jail, I’m not gonna try hurting myself, I’m not even pushing everyone away! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!”

“Nothing is wrong with you, Hiro,” Rogers started to rub his back, “You’re stronger than you think. You have friends and family who  _love_  you more than anything in the world. This is just –”

“Just  _what_?!” Hiro spat bitterly, “Is this ‘normal in the healing process?’ Is it ‘natural’ that I’m  _feeling_ all this stuff  _again?!_ ”

“Tell me what you’re feeling, Hiro,” Rogers encouraged, “Are you sad, because it means that Tadashi never left, but he just wasn’t with you and your family? Are you mad that he’s alive? Are you afraid that you’ll lose him?”

“I don’t know…” Hiro muttered, “He’s back. My big brother, my best friend, my  _hero_ …he’s alive…I wanted him back. I wanted him to be with me and Aunt Cass and Mochi and Go Go and Fred and Honey Lemon and Wasabi and Baymax and go to college with him. I wanted to take classes with him again. I wanted to spend more time with him. I wanted…”

He paused, sniffling and coughing for a moment.

“…I wanted him to watch me  _do_  all those amazing things he hoped I would do. But  _then_ , I think of how he just…just  _threw_  his life away. He  _looked me in the eye and then ran into a burning building!_ ”

Hiro stopped and took a deep breath, “I guess I’m… _mad_  that he did something that  _stupid_  and even  _more_  mad because he always got mad when  _I_ do something reckless and thoughtless, so I guess that makes him a hypocrite. I’m…scared that I’m going to wake up and see that his side of the room is still bare and the only other person that would be there is Baymax and that God is just screwing with me  _again_.”

Hiro shuddered, but he pressed his face into Rogers’ shoulder and continued.

“…I’m hurt.”

“About what, Hiro?” Rogers asked quietly.

“I’m… _hurt_ …that Tadashi’s back, and it feels like all of those days  _hurting_  and not eating or sleeping was for nothing. I’m hurt that the first thing he did  _wasn’t_ apologize and just wanting to  _pretend_  that he didn’t  _almost_ die three months ago. And…”

Silence.

“Let it out, Hiro, this is a safe place.”

The next words were barely a whisper.

“Why did he choose him over me?”

“Callaghan, you mean?”

“…why? What made him special enough to do something that stupid?”

“Maybe you should try seeing things from his perspective, Hiro. How would you feel if it was  _you_ in the building and Tadashi ran inside to try and rescue you?”

“I’d be scared _and_  angry because if Tadashi died with me, then Aunt Cass would be all alone!” Hiro snapped. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to die like that, but I’d feel worse if Tadashi also died and it was  _my_  fault!” 

“Why do you keep thinking back to that night, Hiro? Do you think you could have stopped him?”

“The first month after it happened,” Hiro paused, as if trying to collect his thoughts, “I barely slept at all, because I kept  _watching_ it happen over and over again…have you ever lost anyone before?”

Hiro felt Rogers stiften slightly.

“My father,” he said quietly. Hiro went rigid. Rogers continued, “When I was 12. We had a huge fight one morning…and I told him that I wished he was dead. I don’t remember what the fight was about, all I know was that it was something stupid. But, just once, I wanted to win an argument against him, and so I said the worst thing I could think of. And then, I walked out the door and went to the bus stop. He went to work. Then, around noon, I get called to the principal’s office and he told me that my father was in a terrible car accident.”

Hiro looked at him with wide eyes, his mouth gaping open.

Rogers smiled ruefully, “Two things from that day haunted me for the next ten years. The last words I said to him, and the last time I saw his face. He looked like I ripped his heart right from his chest and was on the verge of tears. By the time I had gotten to school, I already wanted to take them back. And then I found out that I couldn’t do that. Every night, I wanted to see him one more time and tell him I was sorry and that I loved him.”

“How did the pain stop?” Hiro asked quietly.

“It hasn’t, Hiro,” Rogers sighed, “I just learned to bear it on my shoulders better. I never stopped hurting, but after the first year, I swore I wouldn’t let it destroy me. So, I kept on living. I dedicated almost everything I did in honoring his memory, showing him that I could be a good man. Every good thing that happened to me or a friend helped. The day my mother planted day lilies in the garden, because my father always loved seeing them bloom in the springtime and the fall. When I got my first dog when I moved out of the house.”

He looked down at his left hand, at the gold ring shining back at him, and smiled.

“The day I met my husband, and the day we brought home Julie when she was 10 years old. 

Neither of them spoke for a minute. Hiro pulled away from the embrace and sat back down on the sofa.

“I’m sorry,” Hiro muttered, “That was a personal question. I shouldn’t have asked it.”

“I had every right to not answer or elaborate on it, Hiro,” Rogers said solemnly.

“It’s still none of my business to tell anyone else,” Hiro said.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t. The same reason I don’t talk about my other appointments. People that come to see me for other reasons, I mean. It’s also unethical on my part to discuss our meetings with anyone else without your consent.”

“I know,” Hiro nodded. He wiped a forgotten tear off his face, “What are you really saying here? That I just accept my brother’s back and not wonder why?”

“No,” Rogers shook his head, “You  _have_  been given a gift. A gift that many people can only  _dream_  of. Do you still love your brother?”

“Of course, I do!” Hiro stared at him incredulously.

“Would you like to see him and talk about what you just said to me with him?”

“When…when I’m ready,” Hiro said hesitantly.

“Let me just say that I’m not encouraging you to overdo it. Take it one step at a time. If you can be in the same room as your brother, let him know that he’s still holding a place in your heart.”

“So…don’t lose the opportunity I got? But  _don’t_  force it?” Hiro asked. “ _How_?”

“Start with something small,” Rogers suggested, “Take a moment each day to look at him and smile his way. Send him a text about your day. Tell him you love him. Because you never know when you’ll lose this chance.”

Hiro nodded slowly, a flicker of hope coming over his eyes. He whispered, almost to himself, “I think I can do that.”

“Remember, Hiro,” Rogers said, “You  _don’t_ have to force yourself into doing something you don’t want to do.”

“…but I might not get this chance again. And it’s not going to fix itself by just ignoring the problem,” Hiro concluded, “Thanks.”

**(0-0)**

“Is he here?” Hiro asked Fred quietly.

Fred nodded.

“Okay,” Hiro took a deep breath, “Just wait outside, just in case, okay?”

“I can do that,” Fred smiled and opened the door into the lab. Tadashi  _and_  Hiro’s lab. Hiro could see him looking over the room, muttering half-heartedly over the state it was in. Hiro rolled his eyes. Wasabi would be happy to have someone agree with him. It  _was_  getting a little messy.

“Hey,” Hiro called out.

Tadashi flinched and slowly looked up with fearful eyes.

Hiro flashed a small smile and held out his fist.

“Fist Bump?” Tadashi asked, his eyes lighting up with hope.

Hiro dropped his hand and rushed into Tadashi, hugging him tightly. When Tadashi wrapped his arms around Hiro, there was the sense of some great weight being lifted off both their shoulders. Hiro ignored the iciness in his heart and fought it down, tightening his hold on his brother.

At this very moment, Hiro was just glad he wasn’t dreaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to confess something. Rogers’ story was based on similar stories I have stumbled upon online, where the last words said were regretful. I do NOT want people thinking that I am exploiting someone else’s pain, because I think it’s really heartbreaking. 
> 
> This story was written because the typical plotline of Tadashi being alive was typically lackluster and too sweet without considering consequences. It also dishonors the film’s message about grief and healing. I wanted to take this story idea, tear it apart, and put it back together because this kind of scenario is truly a gift that many would sell their soul for. I’d give to see my old dog again, because I miss my little sister – yes, I consider my dog my little sister – and the day she was put down hurt. And when my mom wanted to get a new dog, it was because she couldn’t stand the thought of having to change her daily schedule so much, since it revolved a good deal around our dog. 
> 
> I love our new dog like a part of the family and I don’t see her as a replacement. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss my old dog, though. 
> 
> I had to figure out how to bring about a happy ending for this fic because there are frankly too many Big Hero 6 fics that have the Hamadas going through shit. And I wanted to handle it as properly as I could. 
> 
> To anyone who still felt offended by my explanation for Rogers’ story, I am deeply sorry for that and meant no ill will. This is not meant to be a story to offend. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. Two Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!

They stayed in the embrace for a full minute. It might have lasted longer if Hiro didn’t start feeling uncomfortable about a few things; the iciness in his chest, the things he needed to talk to Tadashi about, the fact that few people would want a hug that lasted too long. But he hated having the hug to end, nonetheless. Hiro gently pushed himself away from Tadashi and looked up at him.

“We need to talk.”

**(0-0)**

Fred offered to let them talk at his place, thankfully. The private lab was a little too close to Granville – and Hiro  _really_  didn’t want her fainting away at the sight of his brother – and the cafeteria was  _way_ too public and Hiro wasn’t sure if he was comfortable heading there after his scene with Karmi – he needed to apologize to her somehow. The library would have just been  _too_ easy for anyone to eavesdrop on the conversation due to the “No Talking” rule obviously enforced.

Heathcliff drove them and then led the two brothers into Fred’s room – which the gang had typically hung out in anyways. He and Fred closed the door behind them, but Hiro knew that they were right outside the door in case anything happened. Hiro gestured to the couch and they both sat on opposite ends.

“Look,” Hiro took a deep breath, “Tadashi. I’m still not over it. And part of me wants to  _strangle_  you for doing  _exactly_  what I would do that got under your skin.”

“And that is…?” Tadashi asked nervously.

“Being reckless,” Hiro glared at him, watching his brother shrink a little. He winced, realizing that the others might have already chewed Tadashi out several times already. He had to rethink this a little. “Don’t get me wrong, I  _want_  you here. I  _still_  care about you. You’re my bro, that’ll never change.”

Tadashi’s expression softened a little.

“I promise I’m not going to keep secrets from you, starting now,” Hiro continued, “Because you deserve that right. First off…”

He took a deep breath, but Tadashi cut him off.

“You’re a part of Big Hero 6. And go by the name of Captain Cutie.”

Hiro’s face went red, “That was  _not_  my choice! Karmi made it up in her fanfic –”

His face went even redder when he saw Tadashi smirking at him. Jerk.

“What would  _you_ want to be called, then?” Tadashi asked gently.

Hiro paused, “Okay…you got me there…wait, you  _know_   _already?!_ ”

“The others told me the first day back. Honey Lemon said that they felt like they had to.”

“Sooo...you’re  _not_  upset…?”

This proved to be the wrong thing to say, Hiro realized, as Tadashi’s face went pale.

“Actually, I am.”

“Does Aunt Cass know?” Hiro asked quietly.

“Only if you told her.”

“Wow,” Hiro chuckled quietly, “this makes my whole ‘being mad at you for being reckless’ point…pointless.”

“I just don’t get it, though,” Tadashi said quietly, “The others said you wanted to do this to get closure.”

“You know that, too?”

“Yeah,” Tadashi dropped his head, either in apology, shame, or repressed sadness, “About Callaghan. And the portal…”

“And Baymax?” Hiro asked nervously.

“You mean how you built him that giant suit? And took out his Health Care chip and ordered him to kill Callaghan? And how his first body’s still in that dimension?”

Hiro paled. The shame of what he nearly turned his brother’s creation into, what he nearly destroyed, made him want to sink into the floor with shame.

“Or that he helped you snap out of that funk and stopped you from doing something you’d regret later?” Tadashi’s voice, Hiro realized, wasn’t at all accusatory like he had imagined it would be. Just matter of fact. Except for the last bit, where there was an underlying sense of warmth and relief.

“There’s a whole lot I want to tell you,” Hiro looked over his shoulder, trying to master his emotions, “And I don’t think I can tell you in one sitting.”

“Why are you still doing this, bro?” Tadashi asked in that same quiet voice, “Why are you doing something like that every night?”

“Well,” Hiro started, “We don’t do this  _every_ night. Just a couple of times a week or if we hear something on the news. I mean, it’s not like we’re in the worst place on Earth.”

“That…” Tadashi tried, but then stopped. He took a deep breath and tried again, “That…is a  _lot_  better than what I was expecting. You’re still getting enough sleep?”

“Trying to,” Hiro admitted, “And then there’s SFIT. I know Granville’s on my case a lot if I’m running late on an assignment.”

“You haven’t answered my question, Hiro,” Tadashi said more firmly. Hiro looked in his direction again and found that he wasn’t glaring. More inquisitive. Anxious.

“I already told you that we formed the team just to get closure on what happened,” Hiro explained, picking up the television remove and holding it in different angles, keeping his brother in his line of vision, “Then Fred wanted to continue doing it because of how fun it was. To him, at least. We all thought differently. Wasabi said he felt even  _more_  nervous about everything. Go Go thought it was stupid, since we didn’t live in a comic book and villains wouldn’t magically appear out of nowhere, now.”

Hiro smirked, now, “Fred  _still_  hasn’t let her live it down ever since the baddies started coming.”

“And what about Honey Lemon?” Tadashi asked quietly.

The smirk fell from Hiro’s face, “We already lost Baymax’s body in the portal. And you. And they almost lost me. If he hadn’t taken the memory chip out and slipped it into his rocket fist, he would have been gone forever. She didn’t want to lose another friend.”

Tadashi looked down, trying not to remember how  _everyone_  reacted that first day. Go Go still wouldn’t look at him, like she was afraid of hitting him again. Wasabi tried to act as though things were back to normal, but Tadashi could tell that he was forcing it, making every word Wasabi said seem fake. When they were alone, Honey Lemon had told him that she was hurt that he had put his life in danger and asked what he was thinking when he did that.

Even Fred showed moments here and there that things weren’t completely normal, too. He seemed more cautious, nervous, almost panicking when Tadashi wanted to conduct the experiment. Where was the old Frederick Fredrickson that went giddy when comics were brought up? Who volunteered to be a test subject for the last three projects Tadashi worked on before the idea of Baymax was conceived? What had happened to one of his best friends in the world, the one Tadashi saw as a brother?

“And what about you?” He found his voice.

Hiro went quiet for a moment, “I wanted to move on. And rebuild Baymax when I found his memory chip. And make you proud.”

“I’m always proud of you, Hiro. You know that.”

Hiro smiled and felt the iciness inside melt a little, “I just wanted to keep doing that, then. Make sure you didn’t get me into SFIT for nothing. And Granville is always on my case about following the rules and stuff. I mean, she doesn’t really  _bully_  me, but it feels like…like…”

“Like she didn’t want you to do something dangerous?” Tadashi offered.

Hiro shrugged, “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t  _hate_  her, she just  _really_  scares me sometimes.”

“What about the supehero stuff” Tadashi finally asked, “Why did you decide to make ‘superheroing’ a full-time thing?”

“Yama stole Baymax’s exoskeleton and Fred and I tried to get it back,” Tadashi flinched, biting back the almost reflexive ‘What were you thinking?’ that came to mind, “And the others saved us before anything happened.  _Then_ , it turned out Yama cloned the first exoskeleton and made an army that the police couldn’t handle, so we had to go out and stop them before anyone got hurt. Then that paperweight from Professor Granville’s desk turned out to be something that supercharged anything that ran on electricity and ended up on the train and we had to destroy it…”

Hiro huffed, “And by the end of the night, we decided that…well…someone had to help.”

“And you’ve been doing this for…a month?” Tadashi asked. “I mean, it took me  _months_  to get Baymax’s exoskeleton right –”

“Actually,” Hiro chuckled nervously, “It took me about a week to rebuild Baymax, and half a week before his body was functional.”

Tadashi shook his head, a low chuckle rumbling from his chest, “You always were a showoff.”

He paused, thinking on what else he wanted to say.

“So…how are you doing, otherwise? Have the, uh, panic attacks…stopped?”

Hiro’s grin slid off his face. He spoke quietly, “I don’t know…I mean, I’m  _still_  taking medication to stop them from happening and so I can talk to you. But…I don’t know. I mean, it’s like trying to fight off some kind of…I don’t know…a cold. When the attacks happen, my body just goes numb. And the medicine helps, but I can’t rely on them forever. But I’m feeling a lot more in control now, after talking to Mr. Rogers and seeing you for real. 

“Maybe the panic attacks will go away forever. Maybe they won’t. But I still want to see Mr. Rogers and I  _still_  want you in my life. It was…nice, being able to talk to someone who could listen. I mean, the others, they  _listen_  to me and offer solutions, but…there’re still stuff I’m not comfortable talking to them about. I just hope that…when the time comes, I can talk to them about  _anything_.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“Yeah,” Hiro muttered, “And scared. And hurt. You looked me  _right in the eye_  and still ran in.”

Tadashi flinched, “Hiro, I –”

“Look,” Hiro held up a hand, “I  _know_  you can’t pass up the chance at being a hero because it’s the right thing to do, but there are  _limits!_  I mean, you aren’t even a  _firefighter_  dammit! That’s  _their_  job to rescue people when its possible. Don’t you remember all those fire drills when we were younger?  _Never go_ _back into a burning building!_  You just give the firefighters  _another_  person they have to risk their lives to save!”

“I’m sorry. For putting you all through that…”

A though occurred to Hiro, something he realized was overdue in contemplating.

“Tadashi?” He started, “How are  _you_  doing?”

“Me?” Tadashi blinked.

“Yeah…the fire and…” Hiro’s voice trailed off.

Silence.

“Tadashi?”

“Sorry,” Tadashi shook his head, rubbing his left eye, “I think that’s the first time that anyone’s asked me that for real…”

He didn’t finish talking as Hiro rushed into him and wrapped his arms tightly around his brother’s neck.

“Well, I’m going to ask,” Hiro muttered, “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Tadashi wrapped his arms around Hiro, “Now that we’re talking to each other.”

Hiro took another deep breath and continued, “The only thing I’m  _still_  trying to figure out is  _how_  you’re still alive…you still trying to figure that out?”

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “That’s…uh…kind of what I wanted to tell the others when I was ready to.”

_Well?_  Hiro wanted to say, but he remembered his own struggle just  _getting_  to this point and thought against the idea. Tadashi gave him his space, now Hiro had to pay him back in kind.

They both jumped when they heard a loud  _buzzing!_  coming from outside the door. A moment later, Fred barged in, holding his phone up to show the brothers Go Go’s face on the screen.

“Globby’s at it again!” He said, “Downtown.”

Hiro pulled away from Tadashi, “Let’s suit up, then.”

Fred’s face faltered a moment later when he realized who he was talking to, “Hey, Hiro, you don’t have to…–”

“I’ve been taking a break for a  _month_ , I’m done resting,” Hiro stood up and pulled out his phone, ready to contact Skymax.

“But Hiro,” Tadashi began.

Hiro looked at his brother with a determined expression, “Tadashi, I’m not going to get hurt. I promise.”

He started walked when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I was just about to say I wanted to come with you. I have an outfit ready.”

Hiro stared, “What.”

**(0-0)**

Go Go ducked at a gooey tentacle lunged at her and tossed one of her discs. It hit its mark, but Globby let his body stretch like rubber, keeping the disc from exiting through him and let it pull further, further, further, until…

_Thwung_ _!_

Go Go ducked as the disc flew back at her, at heard it slice through a telephone pole. She moved out of the way right as it fell and darted after Globby.

“Honey Lemon, ice him,” Go Go ordered, “Wasabi, get ready to slice him.”

Honey Lemon threw an ice-blue Chem Ball at Globby, only for it to be pulled back and catapulted at her like Go Go’s disc. Wasabi flung himself at Honey Lemon and pulled them both out of the oncoming projectile.

“I’m  _really_  starting to hate this guy, now,” Wasabi groaned.

“I’m used to it,” Globby smiled and threw his left hand at them again, this time, shifting its form to metal…before it collapsed on the street.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered, “Metal’s heavy…”

A moment later, his arm rose from the ground, Globby smiling again, “That’s better.”

“What did you just do?” Wasabi asked as he pulled Honey Lemon up. He pulled her to the ground again as the metallic arm shot out at them, hitting the wall behind them.

“Just coated the outside with metal and kept everything else the same,” Globby pulled back his arm and molded his body to form a wolf, “Like armor.”

“I have to admit, that’s pretty clever,” Honey Lemon nodded enthusiastically.

“Hey HL, maybe we can talk about his battle strategy  _later!_ ” Go Go dashed in front of the two and charged forward.

“No, think about it,” Honey Lemon pulled Wasabi up and tapped her Chem-Purse, pulling out a pink ball a moment later, “An outer coating is easier to maneuver than his original idea, but he’s still turning a part of himself metallic.”

“Your point?” Go Go somersaulted over Globby as he charged at her and started closing in on Honey Lemon. She started moving to the left, right as Wasabi swung his blade at the villain.

Globby separated as his body connected with the blade and reassembled behind Wasabi.

“Ew!” Wasabi jumped from one foot to the other, “Now I’m covered in Globby! I need sanitizer! I NEED SANITIZER!”

Go Go tapped the communicator in her helmet, “Fred, where are you and Baymax?”

“Um…we’re getting  _really_  close,” Go Go rolled her eyes at this, “I can see lots of purple…no, no wait, I’m sorry. That’s Hiro’s outfit I’m looking at and – whoops…”

Go Go’s eyes widened as she took this all in.

“Hiro’s here?!”

**(0-0)**

“Fred,” Hiro gazed at the streets beneath them, trying not to scream with delight from flying on Baymax again, “I thought we agreed that we’d keep me a secret until we got there!”

“No,” Fred corrected him, “We agreed to keep  _Tadashi_  a secret until we got there. Right, Tadashi?”

He turned his head over his shoulder, catching Tadashi’s eye and repeating himself, “I said,  _right_   _Tadashi_?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Tadashi nodded and tightened his grip around Fred’s waist, “Remind me to make seatbelts for this.”

“We flew in the air for a few seconds on your moped,” Hiro countered, “Besides, this is  _so cool!_ ”

“Tadashi,” Baymax added, “Your heartrate is: elevated. Indicating: distress. And your body temperature is low.”

“I didn’t have much time to make a suit for this, okay?”

Hiro snorted, “Yeah. That ninja outfit  _sure_ looks half-assed.”

“At least it covers most of my face,” Tadashi said dryly. It was true, only his eyes could be seen while the rest of his body was covered in black. Head to toe, his face even covered with a mask, Tadashi stood out in the light of day.

“See, you’re just trying too hard,” Hiro continued more casually, “If there’s anything that Fred’s comics have taught us, it’s that people believe what they want to believe.”

“Well, _I_  believe you need to put in more effort in disguising yourself in public.”

“And  _I_ believe we’re seeing Globby now, so we’ll pick up on this later,” Hiro pointed downwards, “You know what to do, Baymax.”

“Preparing for landing,” Baymax said and dove down. A moment later, he finished his touchdown to the street and got down on one knee, “Proceed with caution when exiting, as you may experience: vertigo or: nausea.”

“Definitely feeling the nausea,” Tadashi held a hand to his head as he dropped down. Fred followed suit, landing on top of him with a  _crash!_

“Sorry, man.”

“Hey guys,” Hiro waved as he got off Baymax a moment later, “Did I miss anything?”

Wasabi, Go Go and Honey Lemon all stared. Globby looked pleasantly surprised for a moment, before he seemed to realize what he was doing and shook his head.

“Well, if it isn’t Captain Cutie, the Human Backpack,” Globby sneered.

“Urgh!” Hiro gritted his teeth, “That is  _not_  my superhero name, first off. And second off…”

His eyes widened, and he grumbled, “Point taken on the second bit…”

“Which means I don’t have to worry about any laser-eyes,” Globby stretched his arm out, transforming it metallic. Hiro simply raised a hand and let loose a pulse of magnetic energy. Globby’s eyes widened as his metallic arm didn’t stretch further. Hiro smirked and moved his hand toward the ground, slamming the arm into the concrete.

“Huh. Magnet gloves,” Globby muttered, “So that’s how he stays on that robot all the time.”

“FIRE BREATH!” Fred jumped and let loose a stream of fire. Globby let it wash over him and suddenly absorbed the flames, coating his entire body in it.

“HAH!” Globby smirked triumphantly, “I’m FINALLY HOT! TAKE THAT,  _MOM!_ ”

“Not for long,” Tadashi said, jumping in. Globby rolled his eyes and tossed a fireball at him, smiling when Tadashi was quickly enveloped in flame.

“TADASHI!” Go Go screamed. Honey Lemon covered her mouth. Wasabi collapsed onto the ground.

Hiro went pale and started muttering, “Come on, come on, come on, come on…”

Fred simply looked at his watch, as if expecting something to happen.

A moment later, the flames vanished, leaving no trace of ashes or Tadashi behind.

Globby’s smile slid off his face, “Huh?”

Go Go stared as a flicker of flame appeared and went in an instant, leaving Tadashi standing in front of her.

“Phew,” Fred sighed, “he was having trouble with that one.”

“Wasabi,” Honey Lemon fanned him, “Wake up, Tadashi’s alright.”

“Didn’t see that coming,” Globby stared. Tadashi started to glow brighter and brighter, raising his hand similar to how Hiro did a moment ago. Suddenly, Globby was choking as the flames surrounding him began to dwindle, “Ack! What’s happening?!”

“Fire uses up oxygen,” Tadashi said in a deeper voice. Hiro shook his head, trying to comprehend what was going on. Even with the warning earlier, he still couldn’t understand, “And you’re just a walking lit match.”

Globby started coughing as the fire began to draw away from him and come towards Tadashi, enveloping him in a cloak of flame. He quickly turned into a puddle of water and slithered towards the nearest sewage drain.

“I got it,” Hiro raised his hand towards the fallen telephone pole and guided the loose wires towards the puddle, missing Globby by mere moments as he disappeared into the sewers. He shook his head and sighed, “We’ll catch him next time.”

“Wh-what?” Wasabi groaned, finally reviving from Honey Lemon’s amateur administrations, “What happened?”

“It’s, uh…” Tadashi rubbed the back of his head, “Kind of a long story…”

Go Go looked at him and smirked, “Maybe you could tell us after you put pants on?”

Tadashi’s eyes widened underneath his mask, “Wait, what?”

“Your clothes are gone,” Go Go said bluntly, “Like the underwear, though. Way to stick close to accuracy.”

“It was one of the few pieces of fabric that  _didn’t_ burn on contact,” Tadashi gritted his teeth as he covered himself.

Wasabi finally looked up and saw Tadashi standing in the middle of the street wearing nothing but his mask and the fundoshi. He fainted away once more.

“Wasabi, come  _on!_ ” Honey Lemon groaned until she noticed what he was looking at and blushed.

“Too easy,” Hiro muttered, though a small smile graced his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue should wrap a few things up and leave a cliffhanger for a possible sequel. I’m not planning on writing that sequel anytime soon since I barely have any ideas for it and want to focus on other ideas that are older and more developed.   
> decided to make a little joke out of Hiro’s story from the hospital here, if you eagle-eyed readers paid attention to detail. 
> 
> Sorry, Tadashi, I just wanted things to be a little more lighthearted…then again, you did choose the outfit to begin with. I promise you will have more of the spotlight in the epilogue, Scout’s Honor (I’m not a scout, though). I also had a little fun with the action scenes in this chapter and trying to have the dialogue match the show. Let’s hope Season 2 expands on these characters, they deserve it. Let Hiro take the supporting role for a bit.


	12. Epilogue: Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the epilogue. Sequel will be started shortly into the new year.
> 
> Happy New Year's Eve, everybody! Thanks for reading!

It took a bit of maneuvering to get Wasabi onto Baymax while unconscious, and even more to keep the growing crowd from seeing a half naked man in a ninja mask, but by the time the team made it back to the mansion in two trips, Wasabi had begun to stir and Tadashi managed to get pants on. 

Hiro noted with amusement that Honey Lemon – and even Fred, to his surprise – were more than a little disappointed when Tadashi returned in a pair of shorts and tee shirt likely borrowed from Fred's drawer.

By the time everyone had settled, Wasabi was being filled in by Go Go what had happened, not that it did much good for the man’s dignity at fainting. Hiro thought Wasabi was being too harsh on himself, personally speaking. If he himself hadn’t gotten that warning ahead of time, Hiro thought he would have been spiraling back to where he was a month ago, frightened and reeling from the night at the showcase.

No one seemed to be able to speak, or even twitch now. Hiro realized that it was because this was the first time the whole gang had been together in the same room since the night at the showcase. Go Go looked especially uncomfortable, the humor from earlier evaporated and left them all with the awkwardness Tadashi had brought back with him. 

But she was still the one who found the courage and her voice at the same time. When she spoke, it was crisp, cool, and tired all at once, “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I’d been resting for too long and you needed help-“

“Not you, Hiro,” Go Go cut him off. She pointed at Tadashi and directed her gaze at him, “We just got you back and…”

“And you thought you were going to lose me again?” Tadashi supplied. 

Go Go flinched and looked down.

“I thought you were angry with me,” Tadashi added quietly. Hiro had seated himself close to his brother, and was able to put a hand on his shoulder for support. 

“I don’t know,” Go Go shook her head, “I’m….well, of course, I’m mad! You just…just…”

She couldn’t continue and lowered her head again, in either shame or penance, Hiro wasn’t sure.

_Do you still love your brother?_ Hiro recalled Dr. Rogers' words to him and spoke up,

“Do you guys hate Tadashi now?”

Almost everyone else flinched.

Hiro continued, “I mean, at least  _I_ had a reason for not seeing my brother. Still wasn’t right to avoid him, though.  What about you guys? What was stopping you from seeing Tadashi?”

Moments passed before Wasabi answered quietly, “We were hurt.”

Hiro’s eyebrows rose, “Huh?”

Wasabi coughed a few times and continued, “You weren’t the only one hurting, Hiro. We all grieved him differently. “

Go Go still had her head low, but she seemed to have been shaking a little. Even Hiro felt his throat tighten.

“We could never hate you, Tadashi,” Wasabi added, sniffing a little, “It’s just that...when you came back...it just seemed to make things worse.”

At Hiro’s glare, Wasabi waved his hands non-threateningly, “We’re not  _blaming_ him! You had a panic attack, for crying out loud. We were worried about you and then Fred told us and it just fell apart from there.”

“We missed you so much, Tadashi,” Honey Lemon whispered, wiping her wet eyes, “We wanted you back and didn’t think how we’d really feel if we got you back.”

“What about you, Go Go?” Tadashi looked at her.

Go Go raised her head and sighed, “First day you got back...I slapped and screamed at you. Today...I thought we were going to lose you again and I wouldn’t be able to apologize.”

“Hiro has been seeing a psychologist,” Baymax responded, “Perhaps your emotional state would improve if you also saw one, Go Go.”

“Therapy?” Go Go said almost to herself and shook her head, “The first month, I just trudged on and had the others. Now?”

“It’s not like in the movies, Go Go,” Hiro added quietly, “Trust me.”

“It’s not just that, Hiro,” Go Go grimaced, “We can’t exactly pay for college, apartments,  _and_ therapy on the budgets we have. And that’s if the insurance can cover it.”

“What about the college?” Tadashi suggested suddenly, “I bet they have counseling services for students.”

Hiro’s eyes widened. All this time and he could have gone to the  _school_  to look for a counselor?! Then again, he never would have met Dr. Rogers. And he trusted that man at the moment.

“Maybe later,” Go Go conceded, “Just one more thing I wanted to ask about.”

“Yes?” Tadashi asked uncertainly.

“The powers?” Go Go asked, “When and more importantly,  _how?”_

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m  _still_ trying to figure out how it happened.”

Wasabi looked dumbfounded while Fred shrugged helplessly, “You got powers…but you don’t know how it happened…?”

Tadashi nodded nervously.

Fred came to the rescue a moment later, “We can ask my dad if he’s ever met anybody with powers. I mean, he was fighting  _mummies_  one time, remember my Bro-Tillion?”

Wasabi stared at Fred with fearful eyes, “ _Fighting mummies?!”_

“Oh yeah…” Fred smiled, “Steamer kidnapped you by mistake, I forgot.”

“Yeah, and then he blamed  _me_ for his mistake,” Wasabi mumbled sarcastically.

Tadashi sagged a little, “I guess that’s why your dad didn’t freak out when I burst into flames the first time.”

No one else spoke for a full minute.

“Tadashi,” Go Go began, but he cut her off.

“I’m sorry. For almost getting myself killed. For making you all suffer. For being an idiot,” Tadashi said solemnly, “I should have  _never_  done something like that and I promise I won’t be so thoughtless in the future. Please forgive me?”

“Man,” Wasabi looked at him with hurt eyes, “We owe  _you_ an apology. You come back and we practically ignored you.”

“And I slapped you,” Go Go added quietly.

“And  _I_ said I deserved it,” Tadashi said firmly.

“He also wants to join Big Hero 6,” Fred added. Everyone glared at him, “What? I didn’t say  _now.”_

“Could you all just shut up and hug already?!” Hiro snapped. Tadashi instantly pulled him in for a hug while the others grouped around the two brothers. Hiro rolled his eyes, “Should have seen that coming…”

Fred spoke up again, “I take it that’s a  _maybe_ for the newest member to Big Hero 7?”

When Mrs. Frederickson came home after a charity event two hours later, she found her son wearing a dunce cap and writing  _I will not ruin a touching moment with my mouth_  over and over again on a large blackboard. She shook her head and ignored it, being used to the antics of her son at this point.

**(0-0)**

Next week, Hiro was sitting patiently in the waiting room, looking over an issue of Captain Fancy Fred had lent to him. On his left side and looking as though a weight was lifted off her shoulders, Aunt Cass was showing her phone to the woman sitting on her right.

“And this is Mochi sunbathing on my bed. And this is Mochi sunbathing on my nephews’ robot, Baymax. And this is Mochi sunbathing in the evening – he loves to sunbathe, by the way – so I guess he’s  _moon_ bathing, hehehe. And this is Mochi when in heat and he has to stay indoors and away from the other cats.”

At this, the woman Aunt Cass was showing her phone to stared blankly, clearly fighting to keep a disgusted look off her face. Hiro heard Tadashi chuckle on his right and smiled.

The door opened, and Rogers stepped out, greeting the Hamadas, “Are you ready, Hiro?”

Hiro looked up from his comic and nodded. He started following Rogers when he halted and looked back at his brother. Tadashi smiled, but Hiro started to frown.

“Hiro?” Rogers was waiting in the hallway to his office, “Are you coming?”

Hiro shook himself and looked back, “Y-yeah. It’s nothing.”

If by nothing, Hiro had meant that he just didn’t want to let his older brother out of his sight again, then of course he was lying.

“Was that your brother in the waiting room with you, Hiro?” Rogers began when they reached his office.

Hiro nodded fervently, “Yeah. I wanted to bring him along this time.”

“Did you want him to attend this meeting?” Rogers asked.

Hiro stared, “Wait, I can  _do_ that?! I could bring him in here and you could talk to him too?!”

“I’d have to get an earlier notice, first,” Rogers explained, “That way, I’d be more prepared. It’s like planning a doctor’s appointment, you don’t want to let them know at the last minute that you want a check-up that day, they could already be booked.”

“But Tadashi could come in here too?” Hiro leaned in, repeating the question, “In the future, I mean.”

“Yes,” Rogers nodded slowly, his face taking on an expression of hesitation, “If you’re up to it, I don’t want you pushing yourself.”

“I spent a month ignoring him, I can’t keep hiding!”

“There’s handling an issue and then there’s overwhelming yourself,” Rogers countered gently, “Just wanting to be around your brother more isn’t the same as the panic attacks going away. Have you been feeling okay, overall? I suggested you take it slow, after all.”

Hiro felt himself blushing, “Yeah…you did. But I’m  _fine_ now. I haven’t had an actual panic attack in almost two weeks.”

“Almost two weeks?” Rogers looked critically at him.

“Um…well,” Hiro twiddled his thumbs on his lap, “I  _might_  have…”

He stopped, and his hands lay lifeless on his thighs, looking away shamefully.

“I punched Karmi.”

“Was she bothering you?” Rogers asked. There wasn’t any accusing tone in his voice, but Hiro still squirmed in his seat uncomfortably.

“Yes…and no,” Hiro admitted quietly, “It was just so sudden…I forgot to take my medication that day and the others were just trying to get me to at least talk  _about_ Tadashi. And during lunch, Karmi just…just asked if he was alive and I…started getting numb. And she wouldn’t leave me alone, she kept asking what I was doing, and I just snapped. I yelled at her and punched her once in the stomach. And then I ran out of the room…and I just felt  _worse_  the more I ran. I kept thinking back to that night and everything else that happened. I couldn’t stop thinking how much  _worse_  it felt now than it did in the beginning because…because…”

“Because Tadashi turned out to be alive.”

Hiro nodded and sighed, “I owe Karmi an apology. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I think you were afraid,” Rogers observed, “I think you were trying to keep yourself calm and Karmi not giving you that opportunity or backing away wasn’t helping either. Corner a dog at a dead-end street and it will turn and bite. The dog doesn’t bite because it wants to, it bites because its scared and wants to be left alone. But you should at least make sure Karmi’s alright if it’s been almost two weeks since it happened.”

“I’ll try,” Hiro said.

“Do or do not, there is no try,” Rogers quoted, “If she doesn’t accept the apology, then there isn’t much to be done about it. But you have to be the one to reach out to her or else –”

“It’ll be how I was handling Tadashi being back?” Hiro asked, “Just avoiding the issue and not letting it get better?”

Rogers shrugged, “Probably on a smaller scale.”

“How am I supposed to explain to her that…you know…?” Hiro looked helpless.

“You could practice it,” Rogers suggested.

Hiro rolled his eyes, “Yeaaah, not trying that again.”

“Again?” Rogers looked at him curiously.

Hiro blushed again, “I, uh, tried the roleplay thing once and kept flouncing it…and that is  _all_ I’m gonna say on the subject!”

“Would you want to try roleplaying it with me?” Rogers offered, “I could act like her and you could try figuring out what to say.”

Hiro sighed, “Alright, alright, just try not to use a high-pitched voice, okay?”

Rogers nodded.

“Ahem,” Hiro coughed, “Hey Karmi?”

“What do you want!?” Rogers shrilled, using a falsetto voice.

Hiro fell to the floor, laughing for a few moments before he looked up to try glowering at Rogers. At least, until the laughter won out and he stayed on the floor for a few moments trying to collect his breath. It had just become an exercise in self-control for both of them, it seemed, as Rogers was fighting down his own chuckles with little success.

“Really?” Hiro gave Rogers a look, trying to gauge the man as he would with Tadashi. The mere thought made Hiro smile a little. It felt strange and comforting to view his counselor in a similar manner to his brother. And to Baymax also, if he wanted to further the comparison. This was a person he could trust, Hiro knew that now. Even if it was his job, even if this was a professional, he could trust Rogers the same way he could trust his friends and family.

“Don’t take it too seriously, Hiro, it’s just practicing,” Rogers said after Hiro pulled himself back onto the couch, “Just say what comes to mind and I’ll try to answer how you think Karmi would.”

“Okay,” Hiro cleared his throat again, “Hey Karmi, could I talk to you for a moment?”

Rogers looked at him with suspicion – Hiro told him about Karmi’s mannerisms to the best of his ability – and pretended to read a book, “What is it?”

Hiro was thankful that his counselor wasn’t trying too hard with the voice this time, but the response and expression – even if they were barely touching the surface of Karmi’s person – were a little too intense. He started to suspect that Rogers might have done acting at some point.

He rubbed the back of his neck and continued, “I wanted to talk to you about…a couple of weeks ago at the lunch room…I just wanted to say I was sorry for…for punching you…”

**(0-0)**

“…and I know its kind of late to be saying that, but better late than never,” Hiro chuckled nervously, but his face became solemn again, “If you don’t want to forgive me, I get it. I really do, we’ve been at each other’s throats since the start of term and –”

“Alright, alright, I get it, you feel bad for hitting me,” Karmi said briskly, actually looking up at him for a change instead of looking through one of her many books she carried with her, “But after what the mascot said, I kind of deserved that.”

“What?!” Hiro stared at her incredulously, arms raised in the air, “I  _punched_  you!”

“Once,” Karmi said dryly, “After I kept bothering you and getting in your face and making your little panic attack worse. I’d say we’re even.”

“Wait,” Hiro’s arms dropped to his sides, “You know I was having a panic attack?”

“I do know,” Karmi now lowered her head back into one of her books, “the mascot told me.”

“Okay, I’m following you a bit better…” Hiro said hesitantly, “But how did you know about my brother being alive?”

Karmi’s head went up again, her face marred with annoyance, “You’re kidding me, right? People  _saw_  him with the mascot on campus a couple of weeks back! I thought it was a rumor – pretty twisted rumor, if you ask me – and while I enjoy making jokes at your expense when it comes to your age or crush –”

“For the last time, I don’t have a crush on you,” Hiro said dryly with his arms crossed.

“Whatever,” Karmi waved her hand dismissively, “What I’m saying is, I would never compare you to your brother or make a joke about him and…you know…”

Hiro smiled a little, “Thanks, Karmi.”

He tried not to stare too much when she smiled back, making Hiro see the girl that Granville introduced him to so many weeks ago. Someone like him, someone with passion…someone he would hope accept his offer of friendship.

“Sorry for my part in the lunch room,” Karmi looked away, her smile fading, “I mean it.”

“And Granville?” Hiro began, but Karmi spoke again.

“She doesn’t know, and she isn’t going to.”

“But I punched you,” Hiro repeated slowly.

“Yeah, and I was supposed to help you with your journal,” Karmi rolled her eyes, “And you could have reported to her about it then. Consider us even.”

“I still think you’re letting me off easy,” Hiro tried again, but Karmi held up her hand in front of him.

“Just stop it,” she huffed, “You said you were sorry, and it wasn’t like you killed one of my bacteria. I forgive you, now let me study in  _peace!_ ”

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving,” Hiro walked away backwards, his hands held up in surrender. He turned away a moment too soon, and never saw Karmi rolling her eyes with a knowing smile on her face. He wasn’t the only one happy to see Tadashi back.

**(0-0)**

Granville, to Hiro’s eternal gratitude, took Tadashi being alive much better than anticipated. She still went as pale as a sheet and dropped the papers she was holding, but at least she didn’t faint like Hiro expected her to do.

Then again, she never  _did_  meet him before today, which might have mitigated the shock a little.

Fred’s dad had managed to get in contact with his lawyers and have Tadashi declared legally alive again. When asked for how much to pay, he told the Hamadas that they didn’t need to pay him back, it was his money.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to enroll next semester, Mr. Hamada,” Granville finally said when she collected herself, “The semester has already begun and it is too late to return. We’re nearing mid-terms, soon, and you would have much catching up to do.”

“I understand, professor,” Tadashi nodded solemnly, but then leaned in, “Does this mean I need to earn back my lab, too?”

Granville looked at him grimly, “Mr. Hamada, of  _course_  you would have to earn it back. In fact, you might need to find a new lab, as someone else is currently occupying it.”

Then she smiled, “But I’m certain that your brother would be more than happy to give it back to you.”

**(0-0)**

Tadashi looked up at the building, took a deep breath and straightened his posture. Hiro was behind him, parking the moped and joining his brother at his side.

“You sure you want to do this?” Hiro asked the fourth time that day.

“Yeah,” Tadashi nodded. His voice was hollow, like an empty cave. His eyes narrowed for a moment, betraying his thoughts, “I need to do this.”

“I can still come with you, you know,” Hiro said, letting a small smile appear on his face.

Tadashi shook his head, “No. I…I just want some privacy for this.”

“Alright,” Hiro became quiet for a moment, “Tadashi?”

His brother turned his head for the first time and looked at him. Hiro was ghostly pale and no longer smiling.

“Please don’t let this be like last time, okay?”

Several months ago, they were in a similar situation. There was a fire. People were evacuating. Someone was still inside, and Tadashi was willing to rescue him, damn the consequences. Hiro had tried to stop him to no avail and watched his brother vanish into the flames, seeming to be engulfed in fiery explosions.

But Tadashi wasn’t here to save the man like he tried to last time. And he wasn’t going to abandon his brother, either. He simply considered this the official end to this chapter in his life.

**(0-0)**

“Callaghan, you have a visitor.”

Robert sighed. He was expecting this day to come sooner or later. The door opened and closed again, leaving him alone with the boy whose life he had torn apart in his blind quest for vengeance. When he looked up, his heart fluttered, and his body went cold.

This wasn’t the boy, Hiro. He was taller, wearing that baseball cap on his head like he always did. It was a cruel trick, another reminder of what damage his sins had caused.

“Professor Callaghan,” he said quietly, “it’s me. Tadashi.”

Robert’s breath was shaky. No, he wasn’t having a heart attack, not in his condition. Was he?

Tadashi stood several feet from his glass cell awkwardly, looking up and down at himself as though it would make him more presentable. Then he sighed,

“Short version: not dead.”

“You were in the fire,” Robert whispered.

“Yeah,” Tadashi agreed, “I was. But I’m alive.”

Suddenly, all the control he thought he would have had for this reckoning was gone from his grasp and Robert collapsed to the ground, nearly suffocating from his guilt. He barely noticed the tears that fell as he shook, almost seizure like, feeling crush like an insect under a forgotten brick. He should have been prepared for this, it was on the news, yet he wasn’t ready for this moment like he had thought he would be. It was far too different from the scenario he envisioned with Hiro, but just as emotional, too.

“Professor?” There was an edge in Tadashi’s voice, something akin to terror or panic. But Robert found his control and yielded his emotions, focusing on the only feeling he found the least threatening. Shame.

Shame was humiliating. Shame was like being doused in cold water in your clothing.

“I came here to get some closure,” he said. He twisted the hem of his cap in his hands, as if it had done him a terrible offense. Robert frowned, he hadn’t seen this occur since Tadashi’s freshman year.

“Closure,” Robert repeated quietly, “Closure that I’m going to rot in here? Or closure that I was still alive, and you risked your life for nothing?”

Tadashi’s face hardened a little, or was he also struggling to keep a straight face?

“Maybe both,” he finally said, before ducking his head and sniffing. When he continued, his voice was a little raspy, “I just…I just wanted to see…I just wanted to see if I could face you. So…was it all a lie? Did you ever care about any of your students?”

Callaghan didn’t answer. He knew that whatever he said would have been taken with a grain of salt no matter what.

Tadashi continued, “You stole from my brother. You attacked him several times. You tried to  _kill_ him and our friends. You put  _lives_  in danger. And for what?! Your daughter? Was this really all over your daughter vanishing? Did you ever think about how many people would have died if you weren’t stopped? What were you going to do then?”

“I don’t know,” Callaghan said quietly.

“All of that pain,” Tadashi whispered, “All of that damage. I bet the judge threw the book at you, didn’t they?”

“Seventy-four years plus life with a chance at parole,” Callaghan answered with a sigh.

“I don’t think that was enough,” Tadashi said coldly.

Callaghan gave a sad smile, “Attempted murder in the second degree against your brother and friends. That’s five lives put in danger. Due to his origins, your robot wasn’t considered ‘alive.’ Your death…or at least  _attempted_  murder was an accident. And then there’s Krei, the only attempted murder that was planned for some time.”

 “Do you regret it?” Tadashi’s voice was hard again,” Do you regret  _anything_  you did for revenge?”

Callaghan ducked his head, trying not to see one of his best students, both their faces streaked with tears.

“Well, you’re right on one thing, Mr. Hamada,” he said, using the old formal gretting, “I did get off too easily.”

“I guess there’s nothing else to say,” Tadashi said in that same cold voice. There was the shuffling of feet and Callaghan looked up to see Tadashi walking towards the door. But he stopped a few feet short.

Callaghan looked hopeful.

“You know something?” Tadashi asked quietly, “Go Go told me that you said my death was my mistake.”

“Did she?” Callaghan felt his insides grow cold.

“And you know what? I  _defended_  you. Said that you would never have done that,” Tadashi chuckled darkly, “I only believed that for ten seconds after I said it. But you were right…I did go in after you, so I only have myself to blame.”

And then he opened the door, letting it slam itself shut, while Callaghan stared at it with immense guilt.

**(0-0)**

“What about the eye?” Hiro asked, a few days later at the Lucky Cat.

“The museum isn’t missing anything,” Go Go shook her head, “And there weren’t any police reports about any theft that day. I…I just don’t get it! What did Globby want with that eye?”

“What about an eye?”

“Crap,” Hiro whispered, but Honey Lemon stood up.

“Let me handle this,” she winked. Hiro gulped.

Aunt Cass crossed her arms, “Why are you all obsessed with that glob monster?”

“It’s curiosity,” Honey Lemon began, but Aunt Cass continued.

“And why are you all getting nervous about me asking all the time? Every time you guys are talking, it’s something you don’t seem to want me to find out about.”

“Aunt Cass,” Honey Lemon tried again.

“And why is your purse covered in buttons? I don’t think I’ve seen you put anything in that purse at all!”

“We’re screwed,” Hiro sunk into his chair, but Go Go didn’t seem all that worried for some reason.

“Honey Lemon,” Aunt Cass looked at her critically, “What do you know about Big Hero 6?”

“Just give me a moment, alright?” Honey Lemon began to rummage through her purse, pressing at… _buttons_?...before looking up with a big grin, “Let me make you some tea!”

“NO, HONEY LEMON!” Hiro stood up and ignored the looks he was getting from the patrons. He smiled nervously at Aunt Cass, “Hey Aunt Cass…so…um…about that eye…could we maybe talk… _later_  about it? When the café’s closed for the night?”

“Don’t worry, Hiro, I can make a good pot of tea for her,” Honey Lemon tried to wink inconspicuously, but went pale when she realized Aunt Cass was looking at her, “It’s, uh…something I’ve been working on. Perfecting the art of tea making and all that!”

“Honey Lemon,” Hiro pleaded, but he was ignored. Honey Lemon went into the kitchen while Aunt Cass watched with suspicion.

“Since when has she been into making tea?” She asked.

“Probably since the start of this semester?” Hiro grinned widely, showing his teeth.

“Done!”

“That was fast,” Aunt Cass raised an eyebrow.

“Honey Lemon…” Hiro said warningly, but she waved him off.

“It’s safe, Hiro, I know you don’t trust my cooking. Go Go helped me test it.”

A moment later, Aunt Cass fell to the floor.

Hiro looked at Honey Lemon in horror, “You killed her!”

“No I didn’t,” Honey Lemon smiled, “She’ll be alright in half an hour or so.”

“But the café is  _booked!”_  Hiro gritted his teeth, his voice lowered, “Why didn’t you do this later when the shop was closed?”

“Well, you see, Hiro,” Honey Lemon’s smile fell and she turned porridge-white, “Oops...”

“You know what that means, right Honey Lemon?” Hiro crossed his arms while Go Go pushed the tall girl into the kitchen, “Talk less, smile more. Let Go Go take the orders. I’ll get Baymax to handle the register.”

Hiro regretted having Baymax at the register ten minutes later.

**(0-0)**

Hiro looked at the bottle, rattling it a few times to confirm the lack of rattling. He thought of asking Aunt Cass if they could get another prescription and brought it up with Rogers their next session.

“You haven’t experienced any panic attacks lately or felt uncomfortable around your brother?” Rogers asked.

Hiro shook his head, “It feels weird. I mean, I still feel a little numb, but...is this ever going to stop? The panic attacks?”

Rogers nodded, “In time. They’re triggered by what’s frightening you. But as you have been telling me, you’ve been keeping your brother in your sight as much as you can without much issue. If you’re still feeling uncomfortable, then it would be safe to have at least another prescription for the next month or so.”

“But the feeling  _will_  go away?” Hiro asked.

“Yes,” Rogers smiled.

“How?”

“Simple: you confronted the fear. You gathered the courage to talk to your brother – though I would have felt more comfortable if you took it a little more slowly, just in case you had another panic attack – and you’re starting to accept that he’s back.”

“So...this will blow over if I keep up the good work and not overdo it?” Hiro asked.

“Definitely.”

Hiro smiled, “Good.”

**(0-0)**

“What was the vote?” Hiro was finishing off the remains of an almond butter sandwich in his –  _their –_ lab, “Is Big Hero 6 going to go up a number?”

Tadashi shook his head ruefully, “Not for the next few months, I'm afraid. Something about ‘not wanting to draw attention too quickly’ and ‘not losing you a second time’ and maybe even something along the lines of ‘just because you can turn your powers on and off at will doesn’t mean you’re in control of them.’ And I’m fine with that.”

Hiro shrugged, “I’m fine with that, too. You know, you could move back home if you wanted to.”

“Actually, I’m gonna stay there a little while longer. I can work on my ‘problem’ without Aunt Cass finding out and...” Tadashi stopped and began to blush.

Hiro dropped his sandwich, “And?”

Was it happening? Did he and Fred get close in the past month in ways Hiro thought extraordinary levels?

“I... wanted to work on the outfit a little bit, too,” Tadashi concluded.

Hiro snorted, “Let me help, if that’s the issue. Maybe I can make you underwear that can cover more, too.”

“Some time this week, maybe,” Tadashi agreed and stood up, “Still up for a movie tonight?”

Hiro smiled, “You know it. Aunt Cass wouldn’t stop talking about how much she wanted to see it.”

He stood up, took a few steps and stopped, something catching his eye.

“Wait, Tadashi.”

Tadashi turned around. Hiro held up his hat, “Don’t forget this.”

Tadashi smiled and accepted the gift, sighing in relief as he placed the hat back on his head.

The two brothers walked out of the lab, Hiro didn’t even grumble when his brother ruffled his hair. Things were looking up, he just knew it.

**(0-0)**

The screen glowed in the darkness, illuminating only parts here and there, leaving the rest in shadow.

The image was frozen on two boys exiting a building; one tall and solid looking with a cap on his head. The small boy, most likely his brother, followed close behind like a duckling, traces of baby fat still present in his face.

He gripped the monitor tightly, his face hardening. He felt his temple grow hot, an ominous purple light covering half of his face.

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” he quoted softly and then added, “But only for some, it appears...”

** To Be Continued... **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I did my research while writing this to keep the judicial system accurate. Nine years for attempted murder in the second-degree (which is classified as done without planning), plus ten-eleven years for the fire and stealing Hiro’s neurotransmitter as well as almost an additional eight for copyright violations (he made more microbots), but I’d say he would be there for approximately the amount he mentioned. The life sentence for his attempt to take on Krei’s life, as it was planned and intentional. I wasn’t sure about the attack on the new building Krei was showing, as I wasn’t sure if it would have been classified as an act of terrorism or mass destruction of private property. 
> 
> Panic attacks can go away when the patient is able to face the fear and overcome it. Hiro’s fear? That Tadashi is not actually in front of him and he is still dreaming. He mentions this to his therapist two chapters ago and funny enough, I was looking at how a panic attack could vanish and one site said exactly what I stated above. 
> 
> And that concludes Shock. Now onward to finish Bad Idea and get another story started. I am satisfied with my care.

**Author's Note:**

> Short chapter, right? Well, that's what prologues are for. Watch as the rest of the cast deals with the fallout. Not used to writing this little. Don't worry, this isn't a gloomy story, I promise.
> 
> In the writing world, I will see you!


End file.
